Taylor Mali:"An Open Letter to the Staff Copywriter of the F.A.A." 

I love Taylor Mali's poems. Not because they're the pure manifestation of Badass Grammar, but because they don't always make me leave thinking differently. Sure, he has his deep poems, but he also has ones like these, that I can just listen to, enjoy, and MAYBE find a deeper meaning to, if I'm in the mood. I have to thank my English teacher for introducing me to his poems.

I'm a grammar nerd too. I live vicariously through Taylor Mali.

If Taylor Mali were my english teacher, I might pay attention every once in a while.

His face when he's talking about destroying a bathroom smoke detector he's so angry!

I would maybe correct Claire to say that one shouldn't try to understand/analyze the individual components that make up the entire poem. (The same way we don't usually focus on one particular sound in the harmony of a song or a particular taste in a blend of flavors of a food we are eating. (Unless the sound is jarring, or the taste is strange). But even if we do, it's usually because we were meant to.

It was supposed to be a little funny, which it was. And beside, it's a random and funny topic, which provides a great reaction from the audience. It's also a topic that he believes strongly about, which is all that matters. My teacher once told me that if you try to understand a poem, you ruin it. So why can't we all just enjoy this for what it is: Entertainment?

I think the irony is that he's highlighting the usage of lists of three in an angrier light, but he's a poet and poets use that a lot. i thought that was pretty funny

Yeah, it was supposed to be funny. But everyone has their own taste, and not everyone finds everything funny. I think it's histerical, because I constantly see rules written in insanely silly ways like this, and I always notice it and think "what on earth were they thinking?" But if you never paid much attention or really cared, it probably wouldn't be so funny to you. It's just your taste :)

i think its possible (and im no expert) that these words have different and distinct meanings in a legal context.

CRASHING INTO THE OCEAN!

It's like simply reading words that have no relevance to each other. Why bother if there is no meaning?

Great stuff. Tough crowd though, nobody laughed.

Umm perhaps the court system is the one with the problem there not the sign or airline.

unlikely event of a water landing

please consult a dictionary. if one chooses not to perform, he is not willing to perform, for whatever reason. what you are pointing out is that one might want to perform, but choose not to anyway, a condition that is covered by the term "not willing."

@2mad5cow2 No, because George Carlin was a comedian, whereas Taylor Mali is a poet. Yes, some of Taylor's poems are humorous, but he isn't a comedian.

Another tirade against lawyers along with "What Teachers Make".

I think the "choose not to preform" is a lot like the manifestation of god, god is both willing and able to save children in Africa. He chooses not too.

I disagree with your teacher. I can no more enjoy a poem that I can't understand, than a song that I can't hear, or food that I can't taste.

Start by properly capitalizing your sentences.