Tainted Lines

When endings lack strength
Or beginnings clarity,
When the middle is a jumble
Without form or parity,
When the rhyme is crooked,
And the meter uncouth,
When consonance fails,
The diction gone south,
Alliteration acting up,
The repetition stale,
Every word a painful stab
Strategies to no avail,
Decoupled couplets over
Dismembered haikus,
Still-stilted sonnets,
Callow cinquains to lose,
Lines after lines from
Poor to even worse,
But find yourself solace
Within free (uni)verse!

Not so tainted? Ah well; optimism is sweetest in moderation. So be it.