For each of the poems you are asked to write below, make your language DENSE and WET and PHYSICAL and TEXTURAL and ASTONISHING and ODD and SURPRISING and WITTY and CRACKLING and CRISPY and CHUNKY and THINKY and FUNKY and MILKY and multisyllabically MAD.

Be a Poet Like Rodney Jones

Read "Bufus," p. 61 and "Slop: A Children's Prayer" p. 25.

Write a poem about an animal.

Be a Poet Like Rodney Jones II

Read "Family Mattress," p. 32.

Write a poem about a family heirloom or discarded family object.

Be a Poet Like Rodney Jones III

Read "Brains," p. 56.

Write a poem about a former love relationship.

Be a Poet Like Rodney Jones IV

Read "Nudes," p. 58.

Write a poem about how you discovered sex.

Be a Poet Like Rodney Jones V

Read "A Whisper Fight at the Peck Funeral Home," p. 6.

Write a poem about funerals you have attended.

Be a Poet Like Rodney Jones VI

Read "Smoke," p. 22.

Write a poem about something you're not supposed to do, but which you do anyway.