Pop

Pop

We should know that there is a threshold
Which limits the goodness of a poem
Beyond which a poem cannot exist
For humility’s sake

When a poem exceeds this threshold
It pops

This unfortunate popping happened to several
Of my shorter works
Before I skillfully learned to incorporate
Errors into my poems

This is why one can never find
Perfection on a page
And also is the reason why we should
Not examine our poems too carefully
Or try to peter out the perfect wording
Of a certain phrase

Better to let a flawed poem fester
Than to risk its total annihilation

Thankfully the contrary to this is equally true
So that a poem cannot suck
Beyond a certain magnitude

For example if a poem is rife
With Romantic convention
Or contains the word rife
Or if the words flotsam and jetsam
Appear together in a poem
That poem almost certainly must pop
Out of utter badness

The very fact that the phrase
Flotsam and jetsam is allowed to repeatedly
Appear in this poem
Speaks to its overall merit
And the craftsmanship of its construction