Putrid Poetry: Day 10: Guaranteed to Make You Puke

Dr. Louis Pasternak Skullstench: Stealth Poet
Poetry Assignment #10: Hyperbole

Guaranteed to Make You Puke

If you ever need
to make yourself sick
the night before
a test
        or a family portrait
            or dinner with Grandpa
creep downstairs to the kitchen
after bedtime

Discover your mom and dad
k–
k–
ki–

kissing (I can hardly write the word)
against the countertop

run upstairs
gargle
but the taste of disgust remains
rinse your eyes
but the image is burned into your retinas

and the next morning
you will be weak and clammy and grey
without even pretending

Miss S – OK, maybe all parents ARE embarrassing. But this is ridiculous.

Your hyperbole is successful, Louis. But the phrase “burned into my retinas” is a cliché. How can you express this thought in a way ONLY YOU can?

OK, here’s something that was not hyperbole. Goldie Granmoti was ruining my life.
At our lockers before recess, she “accidentally” bumped into me.
Then she joined the soccer game. The rule is “Whoever stays, plays.” That means anyone who watches for 5 minutes gets to rotate in.
And then she SCORED on me!
It was bad enough that Miss Sweetmallow liked her poems better.
Goldie wasn’t happy with just that. She wouldn’t be happy until she humiliated me and destroyed my entire life.

2 Responses

  1. Is there a Putrid Poetry Society? I want to join in. I’m sure lots of my poetry is putrid!
    I’m really enjoying this series.

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