Thanks for the encouragement. Another problem I have with the poem is that
it doesn't relate too easily to anything I've written before. That ought not
to matter, but now that I think in terms of collections, a one-off poem is
slightly awkward. I have graduate creative writing students who are in the
same predicament, and I always tell them that when they've written some more
the links will appear - rather like your poem turning into Siamese twins. So
I'd better take my own advice and be patient.
Best wishes
Matthew
>
>I too liked your poem - and saved it. On this score, of having more to say,
>I find the best poems are like the best comedians: they know when to shut
>up and leave the audience wanting more. (& the best poets at poetry
>readings ...)
>
>However, there is room for more in other poems. A loose series is always a
>good way to use all the strings on your lyre. I have a few poems where the
>offcuts from one massive first draft became separate poems - and one
>instance where I wrote a poem in the wee small hours, head foggy yet
>moonlit, only to discover the next day that when I disentangled the "I"
>segments from the "we" segments I had two poems poems, the same shape and
>the same length: Sitting Alone and Sitting Together. They had come to me as
>Siamese twins, and I separated them delicately the next day. I am still
>mystified by the process of poetry-writing after forty years!
>
>Andrew
>
>----------------------------------------
>Andrew Burke Copywriting
>[log in to unmask] Creative Writing
>http://www.bam.com.au/andrew/ Editing
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