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Unnecessary Words

Help me! I am addicted to unnecessary words In everyday speaking I am hopelessly loquacious And worse, in my poetry, so much for the birds, Help me! I am addicted to unnecessary words! Too many adjectives and unnecessary adverbs Like “very” and “really” adding nothing of merit And thoughts burdened with repetitive phrases, Too many adjectives and unnecessary adverbs! I turned on grammar assistance only to discover The program needs to work overtime to fix me, Like “needs to work” instead of simply “works” I turned on grammar assistance only to discover, I do not write nearly so well as I thought I did Employing lots of words to express my meaning, Overworking words that appear over and over I do not write nearly so well as I thought I did! Written December 6, 2022

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I Am Anaya

Date: 12/8/2022 10:52:00 AM

Mark Twain on editing--When in doubt, cross it out! Were you channeling Mark?

L Milton Hankins
Date: 12/8/2022 11:19:00 AM

Perhaps! No, actually, I am becoming more aware of how wordy I am. And, I am trying to improve.

Maurice Rigoler

Date: 12/7/2022 3:11:00 AM

That's when judicious editing comes to the rescue, painful as it often is. I try to write lean sentences. / Maurice

Caren Krutsinger

Date: 12/6/2022 11:01:00 PM

"I turned on grammar assistance only to discover The program needs to work overtime to fix me," - hahahahahahahahahahahaaha This is exactly what I find too! I love this poem!

L Milton Hankins
Date: 12/8/2022 11:21:00 AM

Thank you, Caren. I'm using "grammar assistance" as a learning tool. And I, too, am driving it crazy!

John Lawless

Date: 12/6/2022 2:43:00 PM

well, I don't know, perhaps, maybe, but then again...y'know...blame it on the dictionary and thesaurus, Randall those overly long and wordy sentences we had to diagram in 3rd grade, or Shakespeare

L Milton Hankins
Date: 12/6/2022 6:52:00 PM

Well, it's obvious, John, that you know what I'm talking about.

Marco Chies

Date: 12/6/2022 1:04:00 PM

I thought I was the king of unnecessary words!!! Thanks for knocking me off the throne!

L Milton Hankins
Date: 12/6/2022 1:39:00 PM

Well, maybe we are twins in spirit!

Jim Slaughter

Date: 12/6/2022 11:43:00 AM

This would be really hilarious, L M...if it weren't so true for so many of us. Something I vowed not to do in my "A Poet's Pledge"...write verse that is "overripe with verbiage...". I'm still working on it.

L Milton Hankins
Date: 12/6/2022 12:25:00 PM

I keep working on it after sixty years, Jim. We have certain words we apparently like to repeat, and so, we repeat them to the point of nausea!

Becky Forbes

Date: 12/6/2022 10:19:00 AM

Cute! Seems forming unnecessary words into meaning to meet a syllable measure is part of the fun. Like pottery - only making word vases.

L Milton Hankins
Date: 12/6/2022 10:42:00 AM

Thanks, Becky, for your thoughtful comment.