Type 3:

This poem has meaning.

You had better believe that it has meaning.

I demand to be heard!

It came to me as I walked the dog, or rather dragged the dog, through a howling gale.

And you bet I edited it.

I honed it to perfection, until it became a sharp and incisive instrument.

My poem will impale you.

I insist upon it.

Type 2:

This poem has meaning, sure

But that’s not its point:

I am exploring my feelings.

These words came to me as I looked into the eyes

of a dear companion,

the wind in her whiskers.

I edited them with tentative trepidation,

fearful of their overworking.

My poem might transport you:

I hope so, anyway…

Type 1:

This poem might have meaning but

I never really thought it through

Some ideas better left uncaptured,

my mind was drifting as I trotted

in the footfalls of a dragon.

I wouldn’t presume to edit it,

this thing of expression;

never the stuff of reason.

My poem aspires to mystify you

but who could ever be sure?

Type 0:

If this poem has meaning, it escapes me

                                                                                                                   I have no idea where it even came from

Oh shit, what have I done with the dog?

Sorry for the distraction,

I found her

                                                                                                                   but lost my thread

so when I come to edit

it's like someone else wrote it

Does this poem belong to you, maybe?

                                                                                                                   I scare myself sometimes

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