Lines to a Budding Poet
Bear in mind, my little man:
Never let your verses scan.
And acceptance will be sparse
If, by any chance, they parse.
But whatever else you do,
Let it not be said of you
That your poetry makes sense!. . . .
That’s a criminal offense!
Copyright Credit: Margaret Fishback, "Lines to a Budding Poet" from Poems Made Up to Take Out. Copyright © 1963 by Margaret Fishback. Reprinted by permission of Anthony Antolini.
Source: Poems Made Up to Take Out (D. McKay Co., 1963)