Titles matter for both,
part of the economy of the form,
unlike a novel or an article
where titles can be broad,
representative of what is to come.
But what really distinguishes poems
and short stories are the ends.
You always know they are coming.
You do not know when
but you know it will not be long.
Will you be ready?
Has enough been said,
and said well enough,
to warrant you getting in there
and then stopping?
Novels, you bathe in
after you peel off your reservations
and allow yourself to be pampered.
Articles fill out details,
support assertions.
Poems attack
or sneak up on you,
then get out of your way.
Short stories, similarly,
allow of no leisurely retreat.
Meet and greet them,
accept their condensed charms
or pull up stumps
and move to the next.
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