I am (as folks have probably figured out) a big poetry fan. I've been reading it for ages, studied it in college, even married a poet^[1]. It's something I care about a lot (even if I have no talent for creating it).

I've been a fan of the English poet Wendy Cope for decades. Her poems range from serious to silly, and sometimes they hit both extremes at once. When I first read this tiny poem some thirty years ago, I thought it was fun doggerel. But as time goes by, it's that second stanza that stands out, a note that there are some in poetry who find any deviance from formality -- however they've defined it -- to be a threat.

It's also a good reminder that you can mix light humor and a serious message pretty well (see also my love of Terry Pratchett).

Emily Dickinson

Higgledy-piggledy
Emily Dickinson
Liked to use dashes
Instead of full stops.

Nowadays, faced with such
Idiosyncrasy,
Critics and editors
Send for the cops.

1. Yes, she's published; no, I'm not doxxing us. ↩