It’s hard to find the right poem
for “Clever Poetry Publication”
Something ‘hardy har har?’
No, way too trite and meh
Something ‘weepy weepy?’
Yes, but not quite so weepy
Disjointed? Well, of course
It can’t have those wishy-washy
metaphors or ones we’ve seen before
In fact, your meaning has to be so so
Obscuro that well, there is no meaning
Does it have any je ne sais? “Oh, loads
of it!” Editor #1 says to very cute, very cute
Editor #2 with those spectacles and the
joie de vivre hair color from Laurelle Paris
When I look at my stuff, it’s all like:
Too much concrete! Not enough postmodern goop!
Then I slink away, reduced to nothing
but bottom-of-shoe-ooze
What happens when you push back
a little and make fun of “Clever Poetry Publication?”
“I dunno,” I say out loud to a room full of nobody
“I guess we’ll find out”
Tyler Strittmatter 