Avoid Cliches Like the Plague

Creative Writing was my love, a passion I thought highly of. A freshman, I felt I could shove one course in my school year. Assignment 1 - simple indeed: "Who broke your heart and made it bleed?" I felt I nailed it; Prof agreed (or so it would appear)... I think I wrote convincingly - "Winter is not my cup of tea, it casts its bread upon the sea, my saddest time of year. I call a halt, enough's enough! I clench my fist and call her bluff, and frankly, speaking off the cuff I wished summer were here. "Dog days of summer make me smile when, grinning like a crocodile, my smiles are wider than the Nile - Elysian Days with you. With bated breath, I'd greet the moon and croon you some soft summer tune until that wretched day in June when you dealt me a blow. "My love, you had me on cloud nine, now casting pearls before the swine, you ran into his arms, not mine; my baptism by fire. You left me there sadder than sad; there may be balm in Gilead, but you left me stark, raving mad, about to go haywire. "To add insult to injury you said I barked up the wrong tree and so I sailed on glassy sea I hope I'm not too vague, or should I spell it out for you? In light of your foul witch's brew I should do as the Romans do: avoid you like the plague!" Thus it went on, emotions raw. I hoped my prof would be in awe - My last line was the coup de grace: I know this, too, shall pass. My gentle prof, he had his ways of pointing out my bland clichés: "You do enjoy a well-worn phrase!" I learned a lot that class. // Reminiscing on my patient Creative Writing professor indicating my over-reliance on tired phrases // written 16 Aug 2020