This poem is being worked on. Unfortunately, it probably won't help.
Ars Footsie
by Ken Sanes
A poem should be lovable and cute,
like a little dog that is trying to root.
It should be emotionally numb
like someone under your thumb
and silent as a bone
buried under the earth
where a large tree was planted
so it looks like that’s where it has naturally grown.
*
A poem should move in time
like a ball apparently in an upside down cup
being moved around with two other cups
in the commission of a crime,
leaving, as our reveries release,
birds crashing into a pile of hay,
and when others say “No way,”
a poem should say “Way! Way!”
*
A poem should be great --
really, really first rate --
one line a sword in a sheath,
the next, the history of the traffic cloverleaf….
Oh heck, let’s get to the good part,
because the words of a poem should play footsie
with each other under the page or screen,
while you keep trying to look under the surface and see.
Also a poem should not be mean or give you the knee.