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Be Still Professor

What does it take for a poem to be great?

A riddle, A rhyme, without any mistakes?

Does it need words, those that are fancy?

Or simply bold words, not of a nancy.

Should it have humor or wisdom?

Written on rest or excessive ***

For Hemmingway said “make sure to write drunk,”

Or to make it scary, get locked in a trunk.

I heard about some guy, who wrote on his head,

While rappers turn poems into righteous street cred.

It’s rumored that some poems were writ on a trip,

But not the kind with a map and travel tips.

Other great poets flirted with death

or were simply in love with their friend named beth;

some great poems came from hate and abuse

or about women whose pants were too loose.

Some poems inspired by breaking the law

or by an unforgettable ménage trios.

So many things could derive a great write,

But these extreme measures just don’t seem right.

Maybe all that is needed is a little emotion

So that one can avoid all that commotion,

and maybe what’s great is all a perspective,

And that it’s better to read without an objective.

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Written by
john-hosack
Published
Mar 27, 2010
Lines·Words
24·196
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