i dislike
poetry
understanding the lack of grammar
punctuation and not to mention the
crisp juicy use of adjectives and please
don’t get me
started on the imagery that lurches shod
in cast iron go-go boots see there
what did that even
mean because i really don’t
even know

i dislike
poetry
it can use
form or rhyme
and abuse
verse and time
by which I obviously meant meter but
meter doesn’t rhyme with
rhyme but somehow when you write
misspelled words with unusual breaks in
between them everyone chokes on their praise of
your sensitivity so maybe the real reason

i dislike
poetry
is because i can’t understand what
it is supposed to be
arbitrary spaghetti language that haphazardly
slithers around while baffled ignorants admire its aroma
or a secret recipe for lasagna with a measured half cup of emotions a teaspoon
truth and two hours in a pathetic excuse for a metaphor
my brain knots when i try to clearly define it but its just an enigma
which i hate because if an enigma can be clearly defined as an
enigma then it cant be one right but i digress because
talking about enigmas makes me
very uncomfortable and slightly itchy

you might notice that this is
poetry
at least superficially because i am asserting
my divine rights as a creative being and an
artist in such groundbreaking
ways as not capitalizing the
letter i and writing sentences that dont really make
homemade chicken pot pie
to the average reader
so don’t try to understand the
point i certainly don’t because after all
i dislike
poetry

LeeAnn Dowd (2014)

Theatre, Minor: Sociology

LeeAnn is freshman honors student hailing from Walnut Creek, CA. She has a dog named Seamus, a bike named Betty, and her favorite color is blue.