How not to read a poem

I once wrote a 15-page paper entitled How to Read a Poem for a college composition class. Rather than subject you to that, I have decided to share a list of the opposite approach:

1. Assume that the goal of poetry is to confuse the reader and obscure the truth. Pay no attention to the words, images, rhymes, or lack of rhyme. The words are mostly chosen to fit the  pattern anyway, and only English teachers care about rhymes. 

2. Inject whatever meaning you want into the poem. Don't try to understand the mystifying words -- skip over them or just stop reading when you come across something you don't understand.  Don't think about how the words are put together, how they sound, or why they were chosen over other words.

3.  Don't try to put the poem in context. All poets have essentially the same, unhappy background, and poetry has no connection to history, prose, or any other form of writing. It is safe to assume that poetry will always be there, exactly the way it is, and will never change.

4. Imagine yourself as a reader, not a writer of poetry. After all, the only people who write poetry are sensitive artistic souls who have no impact on the real world.

5.  Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate. Constantly compare the poem to your own beliefs or situation. If you find something you disagree with, stop reading. Be inflexible, and avoid ambiguity, shades of gray, or immorality. Denounce degenerate art if it depicts something you don't like.

Let me know what you think!