I built this poem from a very fun writing exercise. Here's the poem. The exercise is below it.
Nuance
What is important
is often imperceptible--
a glacial shift pushing toward
inevitable purpose.
A tight smile twisting
a wedding ring.
A hesitation
unfolds
and that’s all there is.
Easy to miss.
Halting words,
inconsolable.
Exercise: If anyone wants to try it.
Pick a poem of 8-to-20 lines by another poet. This is your "scaffold" poem.
Write a copy of the scaffold poem with enough space between each line for you to write another line there, a line that you will create to fit with the sense of the scaffold lines.
Beneath each line of the scaffold poem, write a line of your own that "fits," making sense in the context of the "scaffold" line above and the line below. Do this for each line of the scaffold poem.
When this is complete, you delete the lines of the scaffold poem. This leaves only your own lines. You now have the first draft of your poem.
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