Monster Guide to Make Poem

by Tiffany Midge

Writing tip: Monster say narr-a-tive poem too tell-y.

Break up story-poem into image. Fracture.

Monster like smash-y poem. Not tell-y poem.

Monster write coyote poem. All coyote howl.

That what coyote do. But who care? Cliche. Monster

make them curse instead. Ex-ple-tive, ex-ple-tive, ex-ple-tive

all over lunar eclipse. Monster no like well-thumbed

volume of shop-worn cliché.

Writing tip: Monster not like re-dun-dent.

Monster see "con-stant nagg-ing" in poem, Monster cry.

Monster re-create noun into verb. "Tinsles," and "Cottons"

to make image of snow. Monster feel proud. Monster like

nouns re-created as verbs. Monster big on re-creation.

Monster like taste, smells, touch, sound,

thing to see. Except fire. Monster not like fire.

Monster think poet should be specific, personal,

not general or abstract. Cryptic, esoteric story

not help Monster connect, Monster have no purchase

or investment in story only writer know. Bring story

into sharp relief, spe-ci-fi-cit-y monster's friend.

Monster no like surreal image.

Make no sense. Like in Sesame Street song,

'one of these thing not like other,

one of these thing just not belong.'

Writing tip: Monster no like flower poems.

Flower poem about flower too flowery, redundant.

Meta flower poem. But sometimes flower

must be written about. Flower pushy like that.

Monster no have grasp of articles, conjunctions.

Sometime that okay. Monster no like latinate words,

or pol-y-syll-a-bic words, Monster like one syll-able noun

and verb. Monster’s favorite word cat.

Monster like best one syllable nouns with slant

or end rhymes. They make poem be-boppy, monster

like sync-o-pa-tion. Monster like poem to dance.