Monday, May 12, 2008

Inch by Inch

Here is a poem I read just today and really like.

There is one technical flaw, a line that's missing a syllable. It does not, however, detract from the poem ... it was just something I noted because I was counting on purpose, wondering if the poet had held strictly to the Rule of 17 for Haiku. And perhaps it's not a flaw at all, anyway. I do very much like the idea of haiku stretched into a 5-stanza poem. Now my ignorance will show: I am not aware of this having been done before. No doubt I should be reading far more poetry than I do.

Also-too this is a case of the form itself in service to the message.

Oh, to write like that! The gills grow green and admiration abounds.

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