Wednesday, June 8, 2011

POETRY AND PROSE

I’m not a big reader of poetry, mostly because I don’t get a lot of it. I work with language as a practical tool and, although I hope my word choices and sentence structure are pleasing, my goal is to tell a story. If a reader loses herself in my prose so she doesn’t even realize she’s reading, my writing is a success in my mind.
Poetry is an intriguing mystery to me. There are a few poems that have stuck in my mind over time through no conscious effort on my part to memorize them. I love how so few words communicate so much because they are the perfect words in just the right order. These poems are like a haunting melody--once heard, forever engrained in your memory.
Fire and Ice
Some say the world will end in fire;
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
--Robert Frost
Would you share a favorite poem or lines from a poem?

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