Sick of Bishop's "One Art"? Try this!
The art of hatred isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be hated that their hatred is no disaster.
Hate something every day. Embrace the fluster
of hated door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of hatred isn't hard to master.
Then practice hating farther, hating faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant
to travel. None of these will bring disaster.
I hated my friends' duplicity. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved friends went.
The art of hatred isn't hard to master.
I hated two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
---Even hating you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of hatred's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
