Don’t steal another poet’s voice or style,
Don’t pretend you’re Petrarch or The Bard,
Don’t bludgeon me with your poetic guile −
I guess the secret is don’t try too hard.
Don’t aim to be sagacious and profound,
Don’t scandalise me (Fourteen Shades of Grey),
Don’t claim it’s love that makes the world go round −
It’s more a spanner in the works, I’d say.
Don’t be obscure, avoid the disconnect,
Don’t bore me if you want to be my friend,
Don’t strain to be politically correct
Or tie it up too neatly at the end.
Don’t think big words make you sound erudite
And please pen something better than this shite.