Multiple Trades of Pen

I engage in both fiction writing and poetry.

I find that studying both forms of writing enhances the other.

For example, poetry stresses the value of each word, fresh language, and pith.  Poetry is also meant to be performed by the human voice BUT--especially since the turn of the 20th century--much experimentation has been done with poetry as text. 

One technique that has evolved from such experimentation is enjambment, where the poet breaks a line before the thought is complete.  When done well, enjambment multiplies a single word's valences of meaning.  I've provided one of my own poems as an attempt at well-done enjambment.

George Herbert

Another technique which acknowledges poetry as text, and not as a performance of the voice, is shaping poems.  Shape poems, through the spacing of words and lines, create images on the page.  One my favorite examples is "Easter Wings," by George Herbert.  These poems transcend gimicktry by utilizing shapes which further the argument of the poem's content.  This is why I love Herbert's "Easter Wings."  

I go into the weeds on these techniques to make this point: studying different forms of writing exposes you to techniques and concerns that are under-emphasized in other forms.

Raymond Chandler

Had I never studied poetry, I never would have been made aware of shape, or enjambment as ways to further my purpose.  If I only wrote fiction, I also wouldn't have learned to worry as much about fresh language.  Only about the freshness of plot, or setting.  But anyone who has read the novels of Raymond Chandler knows that description can elevate a story from palatable to delectable.  There's joy not just in Chandler's main character solving a mystery, but savoring the words which Chandler serves up like a gourmet chef would their best dishes: hot, and juicy*.

Given the introduction, I'm not sure my own poem, which follows, exemplifies the ideals of enjambment I initially described.  Nonetheless, I offer it up for your enjoyment with my plea to apprentice yourself to multiple trades of the pen.

You won't regret it.

*(Perhaps a better-known example would be The Avengers.  Next time you watch it, notice how much the movie relies upon witty dialogue to carry otherwise monotonous set-up scenes.  Interesting language does much more than merely surprise the reader: it delights.)

Nap time.

Every time you wake up

I interpret the red marks on your cheek:

four: you drempt

of that stupid binki

I give to send you

packing with the sandman;

three: the sandman took

you to Ali Baba, and his gang

of forty thieves snaked

every grain of sleep;

eleven: you're out

of body.  These are steps

to heaven, impressed

on your cheek

and all I can think

is you've ratted me out,

told God I've sent you into ana-

phylactic shock.

After two hours I start repenting;

God's got you and you're never coming back.