The cruelest month: You might as well live

We couldn’t get through National Poetry Month without a bit of bite. In case there's any question, I’m talking Dorothy Parker.

In Parker we see crystallized the concept that poems pack a lot of punch in just a few words. I love her stuff, and here are two I can recite all on my own.

Resumé

Razors pain you;

Rivers are damp;

Acids stain you;

And drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren’t lawful;

Nooses give;

Gas smells awful;

You might as well live.

Comment

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,

A medley of extemporanea;

And love is a thing that can never go wrong;

And I am Marie of Roumania.

I've been known to declare myself, sotto voce, Marie of Roumania in more than one project meeting.