write a Shakespearean sonnet (you’re my offspring, i’ve probably overloaded you on literature and poetry by the time you’re old enough to even think about having interpersonal relationships with people of the opposite or same sex[i won’t judge, ask your a-pe]) and think about what writing a sonnet entails. now, look at it in terms of relationships.

fourteen lines - use what you have wisely, be it time, chances or opportunities you could have taken because that’s all you’re going to get. don’t regret anything you’ve done if you did it for the right reasons BUT i don’t want you to regret not taking initiative and taking a chance on someone you feel a connection to.

rhyme structure - this isn’t one of those modernist (some people don’t get what post-modernist is) free-verse-spoken-word performance art poems where you get whatever you want when you want it. it’s important to understand that. life, and love has to follow some type of order. this will also teach you to work with what you have, not what you think is perfect. nothing/no one is perfect, get with the program and do your best because the pedestal is going to fall someday.

three quatrains, one couplet - temper yourself, try not to go all in at the start. i may sound like a cynical old man who just wants to ruin your fun but trust me, i’ve been there. present yourself gradually, you don’t want to scare the object of your affection off nor do you want to leave nothing to yourself because that’s a serious commitment. it’s not that i think that you’re not ready, i just don’t want to see you hurt.

thematic progression of the quatrains into the couplet - you can’t stay stagnant with what you have. every sonnet has a beginning, a middle and an end. sometimes it doesn’t end, it just changes into something else. i don’t want you to stick with a bad relationship because it’s what you have and you’re afraid of striking out on your own. i also wouldn’t want you to just stay at the level of boyfriend/girlfriend when you have something good. life is growth and i would want you to live.

iambic pentameter - love, much like life is made up of rhythms. there will ALWAYS be ups and downs, moments of calm followed by moments of stress. it’s the norm, embrace it. yes, i know that it sucks but that’s how it is. i also want you to know that it eventually gets better, so don’t worry too much.

ten syllables - you have limits and constraints so work WITH them rather than against them. in the same way that ten syllables forces you to choose the best way to put a poem in a limited frame i want you to not lose hope if i don’t want to lend you the car or let you use the driver past his regular time. learn to commute or learn to drive, use the setbacks to grow.

you can bend the rules, for the right reasons - just like i’ve said before, i don’t want you to regret anything you’ve done as long as it’s for the right reasons. explain yourself and i’ll never blame you, just know that i’ve got your back. this doesn’t mean that you can just elope, i WILL hunt you down.