The Poetry Police

It’s rumored, in a recent press release,
a new squad has formed in the constabulary,
They’re fondly referred to as Poetry Police
And their mission is to guard our vocabulary.

They are claiming the added pollution
will reduce with this current solution
and they promise a swift prosecution
to those guilty of poor elocution

It seems popular today to allow meter to vary
and claim you’re just being contemporary.
It’s okay if you do but one thing you should know
is you still need to focus on having good flow.

There’s many who claim that rhyme is a curse
and refuse to include it in nary a verse.
It appears if you do—you can no longer be
counted among those—whose writing is “free”.

Now this path has demanded a heavier cost
for figurative language is now all but lost,
replaced by some rather confusing commotion
about needing to share all my inner emotion.

My ear longs to hear one more good metaphor
and a fresh oxymoron is never a bore.
There’s no substitution for turning a phrase,
so I’m voting to give these policemen a raise.

If you choose to write poetry as a vocation
and you wish to avoid any legal complication,
to assist your endeavor then my best advice is—
you should practice the use of poetic devices.