I avoid
pretentious speakers,
writers who conspire
to tout lofty lines,
artists who substitute
affected showmanship
for talent
and sprinkle conversations
with the word
“juxtaposed” for effect.
I avoid extravagant imagery.
I abstain from elaborate
linguistic acrobatics.
I want to reduce the art of words
to something living, breathing,
human… tangible.
If the egos of authors
peer down sharp noses
at my humble distillations of truth
then I extend them pity
for their incapacity to see
the beauty of expressions
as delicate as an exhalation.
My goal remains,
my reverence resolute, for phrases
as simple and pure
as oxygen.

There is sort of a joke in this one. I denounce the snooty world of literary accomplishment for their pretentiousness, but (by looking down on them) I show an ego above the pretentious ones, albeit an ego that is more a certainty in the value of simple things. Kind of an irony thing... get it? No? Nevermind, who asked you. :)