Fools' Rules (Dedicated To Constance)
* Dedicated to Constance, the Rambling Poet
Written for her "Follow the Rules" contest
By Carolyn Devonshire
For simply failing to walk between the road’s white lines‘~~~~
As a teen my sister got a ticket for jaywalking
When visiting the library you must remain silent
In a country with free speech, what is the crime in talking?
Once I heard an alarm bell**** go off while on a jet plane
Lordy, you should have seen the commotion in the cabin!#?!
A passenger had lit up a smoke in the bathroom
And when the plane landed, guards were waiting to arrest him
To cars on the right we must yield at an intersection +
If nobody moves, what do we do? Wait for Judgment Day?
For government insurance we may soon be forced to pay
If we can’t afford it, will in debtors’ prison we stay?
Watering plants is often restricted when heat ~~~~ comes with drought
Are we supposed to watch precious flowers wilt and die?
If you take your child to a film, he best not make a sound****
The usher will escort you out if a toddler cries
Love thy brother is a commandment from our Creator
Throughout history wars have been waged so many times
Even the forms of poetry have so many rules
We must adhere to syllable counts and even forced rhymes!
But the rule that bothers me most is the law of the land
Thoreau was sent to jail for refusing to pay taxes :(
While some of these rules make sense to me, I don’t understand
Why we can’t ignore a few so everyone ~~~~relaxes~~~~
Rules in the poem include:
1) Jaywalking
2) Not talking in libraries
3) Smoking in aircraft bathrooms
4) Yielding right of way
5) Being forced to pay for government-run health insurance
6) Restrictions on watering plants
7) Removing crying babies from theaters
8) Loving thy brother
9) Rules of poetic forms
10) Being required to pay taxes
Copyright © Carolyn Devonshire | Year Posted 2010
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