30 Poems in 30 Days 2009: Day Ten
September 10, 2009 by J.C. Hewitt
Line length is one of the many variables you can control in poetry. It is something that you can concentrate on or ignore, as the feeling moves you. In my own poetry, line length is generally linked to phrase and impression. In other words, the length of the line is linked to the thought being expressed. The line might be a single word or a dozen words in length. This is due in part to a style that I have embraced which eliminates as much punctuation as possible. I let the line lengths act as punctuation.
There are many other ways to determine line length:
Letter Count: A set number of letters per line, regardless of the words contained. You can either count the spaces and punctuation between words as letters or count only the actual letters.
Word Count: A set number of words per line.
Syllable Count: A set number of syllables per line.
Meter: A set number of syllables which are either stressed or unstressed according to a pattern. This is historically the most common determinant of line length in poetry.
Visual: Line lengths determined by the look of the poem on the page. Often these are poems that create geometric shapes such as circles, triangles and squares.
Line length influences more than just the look of a poem. It helps determine the language of a poem. The writing has to conform to the constraint you select, which often forces you into use language or constructs other than your natural writing voice. While attempts to move outside your natural voice are not always successful, they do help you to stretch your skills as a poet.
Another interesting challenge is to take a poem written in your natural voice and edit it to conform to a new pattern. This can help you to look at an old poem in a new way.
Today’s Poetry Prompt
Use a letter count as a constraint for your poetry, either writing a brand new poem or rewriting an old poem to fit the new pattern. You can either count the spaces and punctuation between words as letters or count only the actual letters. Keep in mind that you don’t have to use the exact same number in every line, you can also develop at pattern such as 20-25-20-25.
The Last Time We Didn’t Talk
We sit next to each other without a thing to say
It did not end so badly as much as it just ended
We never expected to be stuck in a room together
As our one shared friend stalled in the bathroom
Just a dozen days after we gave up on each other
This sort of thing might work for the movies but
In my life it becomes the longest half hour ever
I sit there feeling the pressure to say anything
That might make this less than raw-hearted agony
That lasts until she takes the initiative to get
Up and walk out the door without giving anything
@John.
You want us to count the characters?.
OK. Count everything, spaces, puctuation. Count it all!
Here is my humble submission
Protest.
Every jot and tiddle,
every letter or dash,
each mark of punctua-
tion, must be counted
and weighed to see if
it the budget allows.
Damn! I’m not a poet:
I’m a blooming accountant!
Hey Pal,
You’re the one who was complaining that the posts weren’t instructional enough.
John,
I enjoyed the instruction.
I even had fun with the poem…
It’s just thought it would be funny to focus on the counting…
I wrote it in notepad, where all characters are drawn the smae width.
In that format, it is visually obvious that every lint is exactly the same length,
except thelast which is longer…
At first I thought, “Well this will be something new” then realised – duh! – I’ve been doing it for some time on twitter, where I write tweetpoems which all have to be 140 characters or less including spaces (and in my case including the #poetry tag).
I found an old poem that hadn’t quite worked for me, but which – fortuitously – had lines almost the same number of characters. The process tightened it up in interesting ways. I included spaces, to give a patter of alternate lines: 26/23 repeated all the way down.
Anniversary
(to the ghost of my second husband)
It’s June 11. On this date
in 1966 you married me.
It was your idea. I wanted
to live outside the law
had fulfilled the fantasy
of the Cinderella day,
knew how quickly all that
collapsed – didn’t need
a repeat. But you’d never
been married; thrilled,
wanted public celebration.
And your mother told me
how she was making – never
questioning it – a new
hat for her son’s wedding.
At that point, I caved.
Sorry, I mean *pattern of alternate lines.
This is difficult….
===============
Time is moving so quickly
There is no time to think
Let alone trying to write
Something fine for a site
But I hope you’ll be glad
To know at least I have
Found some time to sleep