Now think of someone to whom this person may wish to offer advice. Remember the tone of voice of someone you grew up with, perhaps someone who once offered you advice.
Now create a title that brings these two together.
Read the poem below by Catherine Pierce and write your own “advice” poem.
The Guidance Counselor to the Girl
The test suggests an aptitude for solitary work.
Have you considered a career as a computer
programmer? Flower arranger? Planetarium
operator? No? What about zebrawood cultivation?
Minor-league mascotry? Those heads muffle all
voices, even your own. Column A indicates
a proclivity for nature. You may have more luck
as a bobcat than a sea turtle, a muskrat than a bobcat.
What do you mean, why? We just discussed
your inclination toward solitude! Here's the list
of promising careers: Muskrat we'll cross out.
Blue spruce on a half acre? Nest-fleeing cardinal?
Maybe? Let's mark it. Throw-pillow by the fire?
Asphalt-dinged Route 40 road sign? Lost gold
stud in the sand? Anything? We'll keep going.
Abandoned Chevy in near-mint condition? One stone
in the Grand Canyon at sunset? No, I agree, too much
responsibility. How about this—the iron clapper
in a wind chime. Well, I don't know, my dear--
I imagine you'd have to create the wind yourself.