for chrissake i never said i was a genuis

[betteroffbad]

When the non-serious come out to play
They bring their pitchforks and their torches
Some people just want to insult you all day
While they drink booze and doze on their porches

Will you read this poem from beginning to end?
Tell me in truth, I beseech you
What do you stand for? What do you defend?
If I'm flailing, it's only to reach you

I never once said I was better than you
Though your actions have strongly implied it
You claim to be serious critics and true
But all of your actions belied it

Show me the place where my prose isn't sparkling
Be clear, be precise, and then prove it
If you could convince me some bright phrase is darkling
I'm reasonable! I'll remove it

I know you're just trying to get a reaction
To jab and provoke me some more
If you meet my criteria I'll post a retraction
Of all my insults heretofore

A critic above all should take his job seriously
Not just skim hard-wrought text and make faces
For the masses who jeer at art cheetos-and-beeriously
In these rabble-beset online spaces

And you, you the rabble, who dare come to mock
With your sneers and your pseudo-haikus
The labor of men who weave words like a sock
To warm those who fling jeers and boos

Poor souls, who would hijack a poet's heart-omnibus
Just to score a cheap laugh for the crew
Poor fools, don't you know there is greatness in all of us
Don't you know there is greatness in you?