JENNY MADE ME DO IT

[set_it_off]

Alright, here's another one. It's my response to E.E. Cummings' "Anyone lived in a pretty how town." I only worked on this today, so it's rough.... But I'm always open to suggesiton.

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"This is the beginning,”
Said the man with words in his pocket.
“Anyone lived in a pretty how town."
"With all due respect sir," I replied,
"I disagree."

"Everyone lives in a town of how pretty.
Some are pretty,
And some are how.

Pretties are dancers and singers and art,
Stuffed with smiles and paper mache hearts.
They twist and turn and shimmy and dip,
Bumping and grinding artificial hips.
Pretties sing for Everyone's ear,
Monotone melodies that every how fears.
They strut and pose in lavish masquerade,
Everyday for them is a pretty parade.

A how is dismal, decrepit, diseased--
Spending time in dark, lonely caves,
Putting commas between adjectives, nouns.
A how is a reader, a thinker, a creator--
Writing words for pretty voices,
Shining light on pretty faces,
Defining how pretty pretties are.

Hows and pretties are not good friends;
But pretties need hows to punctuate ends.
How pretty! How pretty! All pretties shriek.
While hows swallow words, letting pens leak.

A how ponders, considers, wonders, thinks--
If pretties came before hows,
What would end Everyone?
Pretty, how? Pretty, how?
Ambiguity asks.
Hows dance with questions--
Commas explode.”

“Your rhyme is good,”
Said the man,
“But your reason is flawed.”
“Why sir,” I laughed,
“I didn’t use reason at all.”