Poetry in Brief

“Poetry is a necessity of life. It is a function of poetry to locate those zones inside us that would be free, and declare them so. ”                                   —C. D. Wright, Academy of American Poets Chancellor (2013–2016)

There is an urban legend that Hemingway took a challenge to write a short story in one sentemce and wrote. "For sale, Baby shoes, Never worn." (See More Here) While we now know that this tale is not only untrue, but this sentence story is one that has origins back to the turn of the last century.  While it may nto have been Hemingway who originally wrote it, the power of this breif "tale" atests to the power of writing in brief and it's clear from this blog on brief poems that peotry in brief has been around for a very long time: Brief Poems

For today's poetry month post, I'm going to share a few very brief poems to explore the power of brevity.  

(23 of 30)

Night Mothering

The cry of night that defies coyote,

and coon,

to bring you breathless into a room,

to comfort the child.

(24 of 30)

Night Filing

Thunder wakes you moments before

bare foot falls, blanket dragging tails,

and bright eyes ask, "Can we sleep with you?"

You open the file, check to verify the correct procedure,

reply, "Go back to bed, girls. You'll be fine."

Report filed, you roll over and go back to bed.

Your wife slips into the shoes of night, 

shuffles out to tuck them in,

stubbing her toe on your filing cabinet as she 

returns to bed.

(Hmmm. That gender-mirror exercise didn't fit into the form--how ironic considering the theme)

Celebratory Aside:

 I'M CAUGHT UP.  It's the 25th and I'm writing my 25th poem of the month.  My apologies, but I had to celebrate a little!

(25 of 30)

Commitment

Signing on the proverbial dotted line which I've towed to this point.

(26 of 30)

Gimcrack, gewgaw, bauble, all babble about nothing, rippling on sound.