Freedom

Freedom, as every school boy knows,
Once shrieked as Kosciusko fell;
On every wind, indeed, that blows
I hear her yell.

She screams whenever monarchs meet,
And parliaments as well,
To bind the chains about her feet
And toll her knell.

And when the sovereign people cast
The votes they cannot spell,
Upon the pestilential blast
Her clamors swell.

For all to whom the power’s given
To sway or to compel,
Among themselves apportion Heaven
And give her Hell.

Blary O’Gary.

–Ambrose Bierce

Your first lesson

I know you’re wringing your hands together in excitement about to burst if we don’t get started here. So, let’s see what we have here for our first foray into spotting bad poetry. We have a poem called So long, mr. nemesis neanderthal. Ugh. Looks like we’re off to a good start here.

So long, mr. nemesis neanderthal

Now I hurt
as much as I loved then -
then, had I known this hurt
that is now -

would have kept a little more
of myself
for me -
how good it feels to say

I’m leaving you
for someone else -

that someone else is me.