A Sonnet to Vandalize Your Car

My students are writing sonnets.  Go figure.  Makes me want to do one or two myself, so I do.

Sonnet XIII

This bad sonnet wants to punch you in the gut

Make your momma cry and your dad get drunk

The rhyme makes you think you woke with a slut

Or made bad sexy with a tattooed punk,

You get done reading and your mind’s gone wild

Like a tornado pickup truck four wheel drive

Ripping up a cornfield like a crazed meth child,

Wondering if you wanted still to be alive.

But a sonnet can’t hit, and your dad don’t drink,

Your momma seems happy and your loved one mild,

And the scene with the pickup truck—just spilled ink,

Lines on a page, like this one (there, you smiled). 

A sonnet can turn like that, bad to good,

Or come out swinging like Mrs. Tiger Wood(s).