Poetry Template

First,
start with the title:
it must be
directly related
to the content
of the Poem -
or not

Then begin the Poem
with a phrase
of tempting ambiguity,
a detail so compelling
that the reader
will follow you
as you pull back
to reveal its unexpected
milieu.

Continue by making
an arcane allusion
to a 17th century English essayist
or by adding a sly reference
to one of the
lesser known Beats
(nothing from Ginsberg,
Kerouac, Burroughs or
Bukowski, please) -
this will establish
your lit cred
among the cognoscenti.

Include densely worded
passages, overstuffed with
arbitrary and completely insular
imagery
to buttress your emerging status
as a solitary, enigmatic genius.

Bring it on home
with an unexpected punchline
that either disorients
or brings a cynical smirk
to the morally ambiguous,
postmodern reader.

Send it out to the same
twelve friends
who always read your work
and always love it.

Repeat as necessary.


 - Buddah Moskowitz


(Buddah Moskowitz writes like the illegitimate love child of Dorothy Parker and Charles Bukowski. Poetry Template is one of the many thought provoking poems from Buddah's I Hate Poetry 2.0: Formatted for Mobile Devices and is posted here with the permission of the author.  Buddah is the editor and creator of www.virtualpoetryreading.com, a website where poets phone in their poetry to share with an international audience. Current writings are housed under lock and key at I Hate Poetry.)