Not Ready Reading Poet X: Abort, Retry, Fail?

There is an error in your poem—
Line 6, word 3 is undefined,
But this is not the whole problem—
There’s an error in your mind.

You’re a dangling modifier,
A verb that acts upon itself,
You’re a noun breathing fire,
You’re an adjective from hell.

Your verses drip their cryptic meaning
Upon the pages like the rain—
You’re an end without beginning,
You’re a form without a name.

You’re a walking contradiction—
A futile, pointless exercise—
You’re a poet of conviction—
An aberration in their eyes.

You smile because you see the terror
Beneath their superficial lies
And you can see the real error
Not in your poem, but in their lives.


   December 3, 2003
--Alexander Shaumyan