DR. SEUSS ON WRITING POETRY
by John T. Baker
If you quibble as you scribble 
     and ad lib a little curse
When your current composition 
     gravitates from bad to worse,
And you're soon so sick of assonance 
     you nearly need a nurse,
Then my friend, congratulations, 
     welcome to the world of verse.

If you're trying versifying 
     and applying all your skill
To the task of best describing 
     a resplendent daffodil
And you mutter and you stutter 
     like an utter imbecile,
Go lie down at once and quickly 
     take a tranquilizing pill.

If you're feeling it's revealing 
    and appealing to emote,
And you treasure every syllable 
     and word you ever wrote;
When you're always on the lookout 
     for a literary quote,
You had better ask your doctor 
     for a potent antidote.

Your endeavor to be clever 
     may not ever earn you dough,
And the critics claim you're babbling 
      through your very own chapeau,
But you've wanted long to do it 
     and it now is nice to know
You are finally a poet
     . . . and the stretch marks hardly show.