Poems Oughta Have Teeth

They should have a backbone,
they should pick a side,
they should make you think,
they should say something
besides painting some pretty picture.

I can't stand poems like that.

I want poets to be writing
because they found they had to,
because something was missing.

Poems oughta have teeth.

If you can read one
and forget it right after,
then you've got a problem.

Poems are an art, and
you can do many things
with them, but if you're
just messing around, I gotta say,
why bother?

To be relevant at all,
they shouldn't feel like
some waste of time.

They aren't just some hobby,
but a way of life, the very
window of a life.

No life really consists
of being a wallflower.