Can you tell me the meaning of this poem?!?

Question

"Beware : Do Not Read This Poem" by Ishmael Reed

tonite, thriller was

abt an ol woman , so vain she

surrounded herself w/

many mirrors

it got so bad that finally she

locked herself indoors & her

whole life became the

mirrors

one day the villagers broke

into her house , but she was too

swift for them . she disappeared

into a mirror

each tenant who bought the house

after that , lost a loved one to

the ol woman in the mirror :

first a little girl

then a young woman

then the young woman/s husband

the hunger of this poem is legendary

it has taken in many victims

back off from this poem

it has drawn in yr feet

back off from this poem

it has drawn in yr legs

back off from this poem

it is a greedy mirror

you are into the poem . from

the waist down

nobody can hear you can they ?

this poem has had you up to here

belch

this poem aint got no manners

you cant call out frm this poem

relax now & go w/ this poem

move & roll on to this poem

do not resist this poem

this poem has yr eyes

this poem has his head

this poem has his arms

this poem has his fingers

this poem has his fingertips

this poem is the reader & the

reader this poem

statistic : the us bureau of missing persons re-

ports that in 1968 over 100,000 people

disappeared leaving no solid clues

nor trace only

a space in the lives of their friends

Answer 1

It looks like a story broken into a free-verse poem.  It seems like someone ranting about the dark side of vanity.  He uses repetition in the sixth stanza as a literary device.  I don't understand why he added the last stanza, though.  Was the author trying to convey a bleek message about the consequences of being vain?  Hmm, interesting!

Answer 2

It means Ishmael Reed tried to invent chain poems

but failed to add send to 10 friends or else at the end

:D

Answer 3

whoever wrote this poem. sound like they feel deeply trapped, afraid to face people and only see themselves as a good person... but yet a person who wants to hurt the ones geting to close..... they probably dont want you to stop reading because they dont want to be left alone.  because they've been left and betrayed to many times.

something like that I guess

Answer 4

Yea whoever wrote this was on acid.......

Because I wrote a similair poem to its called stupid poems..

Answer 5

its about love

Answer 6

the good thing about poems is that it doesn't really have one meaning it could mean anything....its the wat you think it means =)