by Wayne H. Swanger

In Praise of the Short Poem

I find myself writing more and more short poems, that is, poems of fewer than ten lines. My first thought was that the muse had forsaken me and the tendency to write shorter poems was a lazy and easy way out of laboring to generate longer, more substantial poems. But, in time I realized short poems are frequently as challenging and expressive as longer poems. In fact, by writing in praise of short form poems I hope to encourage others to give them a try.

Most of us probably got our first taste of poetry in nursery rhymes many of which are less than ten lines. Generally they are short in length, rhyming, rhythmic and easily visualized. Perhaps, many of us equate short poems with nursery rhymes, and therefore, avoid shorter poems, thinking them juvenile. But, there are benefits to short poems such as nursery rhymes. For example, they are easily memorized. Many young children learn them quickly and easily after only a few repetitions. Oldsters can recite numerous nursery rhymes that have not been recited in decades….Hickory, Dickory Dock, Jack and Jill, Incy Wincy Spider, Pat a Cake, etc. How many can you recite off the top of your head that you haven’t heard in years? 

Just as probable as most of us having familiarity with nursery rhymes is the probability that most of us have some knowledge of limericks. Limericks have five lines, a standard rhyming pattern of aabba, are frequently humorous, and occasionally, ribald. It may be likely that the only poetic experience many of us had as adolescents is trying our hand at limericks to impress our friends. 

Who among us have not had instruction and practice writing Haiku? Haiku poems do not require rhyming and generally have three lines of five, seven and five syllables respectively. There are numerous other short form, non-rhyming poem types that have been utilized for centuries. For example tanka poems are five-line poems using line lengths of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables, respectively. Check one of the many poetry reference sites and you’ll find a surprising number of formal short poem formats that require specific syllabic line lengths and/or rhyming schemes (e.g., Sedōka- 5, 7, 7, 5, 7, 7; Chōka- 5, 7, 5, 7, 5, 7). There is considerable challenge in writing evocative haiku, tanka or any such short form poetry.

Occasionally, I focus on tanka poems for a period of a week or so. For some reason the structure grips me and I write numerous tanka starting with the same initial three lines and write a series of tanka with various endings. Brevity and structure of the tanka allows for experimentation and creativity while engaged in other activities such as walking, waiting, loafing, etc. With the first three lines in mind one can count syllables as variations on the last two lines are created. The following are three tanka poems using the same first three lines and variations of the last two lines. I was trying to use the image of the weathered, snow covered spruce as a metaphor for an old man considering himself in a mirror:

Spruce, dusted with snow,

Crown broken, boughs bent, alone,

Swaying with the wind

An old man totters, white hair,

His gnarled hand grips his cane.

……………………….

Spruce, dusted with snow,

Crown broken, boughs bent, alone,

Swaying with the wind

Glancing at his reflection

The old man steadies himself.

………………………….

Spruce, dusted with snow,

Crown broken, boughs bent, alone,

Swaying in the wind

Pondering his reflection

Was not aware of the change

During the covid years when meetings with other poets was largely limited to ZOOM  I joined with other poets to collaboratively write tanka poems. Using email we took turns writing the first three lines of the tanka and the other participant would complete the last two lines. Jess Weible, Sarah Rossey, and Mike Essig were collaborators.

Below are examples of collaborative tanka poems. The first person listed submitted the first three lines, the second added the last two lines to complete the tanka.

What about short free verse poems? These are poems that are fewer than ten lines, non-rhyming and have no set line length. An examination of past issues of The Watershed Journal include a number of short free verse poems. Interestingly, short free verse poems are rarely shared at open mic events in this region. Certainly, there have been a few read, but they are not common. Why is that? I think there are two reasons. First, they are difficult to write. Second, they are difficult to read to an audience. Let me explain.

Short free verse poems are difficult to create. In some respects having a specific number of syllables per line in structured short forms provides some advantage…well, it’s the structure. It limits diction, in that word choices, combinations and sequences of words and number of words are impacted by the structure. There is significantly more flexibility in short free verse poems which may make construction of a poem more difficult for the poet than the narrower choices in structured forms.

 Another difficulty in writing short free verse poems is that these poems usually describe a singular event or a strong sense of feeling. By necessity these short poems are parsimonious, that is, words must be chosen with great care to capture the event and/or feeling described. Composition of these poems requires words to be expressive, as well as, if not improving fluency, at least not hindering the flow when read aloud. Fluency is our second challenge to creating short free verse poems.

Writing short form free verse poems is difficult. However, when I’ve written one that ‘nails it’ in my mind I am as pleased as when I write a poem of greater length and detail. In fact, there have been times that a short poem is cathartic for me. Perhaps, it’s the brevity…like saying it and getting it off one’s chest. In some cases I’ve struggled to write a longer poem and by constantly refining and reducing I end up with a much shorter, more expressive and poignant poem than I started out with originally; I’ve given up my resistance to writing short free verse poems as a result. Below are two short free verse poems that were written through a process of refinement and reduction to address Covid 19. The first poem, Covid: A Data Analysis, was published in Tobeco. The second poem, Covid: A Revelation, has yet to be published. My intent when writing these two short free verse poems was to express strong feelings about complex issues associated with containing the pandemic:

Covid: A Data Analysis

Our illusion of separateness

Crumbles under the crush of numbers:

New Cases,

Hospitalizations,

Deaths…

Measures of our unwillingness to separate,

The necessity of intimacy unmasked.

…………………………

Covid: A Revelation

In the midst of death

We become numb to our own

Inhumanity, until it

Slowly raises its ugly head,

Tosses aside its mask… and grins

Sharing short free verse poems orally is challenging. I rarely read them at open mics as I have yet been able to express them orally with effect. Well, admittedly, it may not be so much as how I read them, but what I’ve written. That is, they may not have been very good. When I’ve read short free verse poems at open mic there seemed to be an uncomfortable hesitation, then scattered applause once listeners realized that the poem had been read in its entirety. It may be that members of the audience have only settled into a poem and have not yet been focused on it, then it is over. I intend to read more of them at open mics in the future. When doing so I’ll introduce the poems as short poem before reading. That may give the audience an opportunity to focus on the poem more intently from the beginning. There is also a possibility that a short poem is better enjoyed on the page allowing the reader time to examine, probe, appreciate and understand it.

My genuine appreciation for short poems began when I was in high school.  My good friend, Mike Essig, introduced me to Kenneth Rexroth’s translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. I’ve had copies of Rexroth’s translations on my bookshelves ever since. A few years ago I gave these books to my son, but found that I missed them terribly. Shortly after giving the initial books away replacements were purchased at a used bookstore in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Enjoyment of Rexroth’s translations led me reading other translations of Chinese and Japanese poetry. For example, I have had numerous books of poetry translated by Arthur Waley on my shelves over the years. I’ve found pleasure in passing them on to others who love poetry. 

Below are a few examples of short poems translated by Kenneth Rexroth, Arthur Waley and Eric Sackheim followed by examples written by Wendell Berry and yours truly. Note the brevity of the poems, the simplicity, imagery and evocative nature. The poems are substantial enough to describe situations that we all can recognize, but sparse enough to allow the reader to fill in his/her personal experience. Note the range of emotion across these poems: revelation, heartbreak, love, resignation. Even as a much younger man I identified with each of these poems. Now, I identify even more so, especially the Hitomaro poem. I’ll not provide any commentary regarding the poems below. They are examples of the power and beauty of short free verse poems. 

Four untitled poems from Poems from the Japanese translated by Kenneth Rexroth:

I have always known

That at last I would

Take this road, but yesterday

I did not know that it would be today.

Narihira

……………………….

Do not smile to yourself

Like a green mountain

With a cloud drifting across it

People will know we are in love.

Sakanoe

……………………

I may live on until

I long for this time

In which I am so unhappy,

And remember it fondly.

Fujiwara No Kiyosuke

………………….

A strange old man

Stops me,

Looking out of my deep mirror.

Hitomaro

Humor can also be expressed in thoughtfully constructed short free verse poems. The following poem is from The Silent Firefly, a book of Japanese songs/poemstranslated by Eric Sackheim. 

It’s not that I’m thirsty, but

At the corner wine shop

My feet are confused

And can’t walk on

Below are two poems from 170 Chinese Poems translated by Arthur Waley. 

The Valley Wind

By Lu Yün

Living in retirement beyond the World,

Silently enjoying isolation

I pull the rope of my door tighter

And stuff my window with roots and ferns

My spirit is tuned to the Spring-season:

At the fall of the year there is autumn in my heart.

Thus imitating comic changes

My cottage becomes a Universe.

………………………..

Plucking the Rushes

By Anon

Green rushes with red shoots,

Long leaves bending to the wind___

You and I in the same boat

Plucking rushes at the Five Lakes.

We started at dawn from the orchid island:

We rested under the elms till noon.

You and I plucking rushes

Had not picked a handful when night came!

The Red Cockatoo is a short poem from Poems from the Chinese translated by Arthur Waley

The Red Cockatoo

By Yüan Chēn

Sent as a present from Annam_
A red cockatoo.

Coloured like the peach-tree blossom,

Speaking with the speech of men.

And they did to it what is always done

To the learned and eloquent.

They took a cage with stout bars

And shut it up inside.

One should not be surprised to find wonderful short form poems in any volume of Wendell Berry’s collected poems. These short poems are from Berry’s Collected Poems: 1957 to 1982:

The First

The first man who whistled

Thought he had a wren in his mouth.

He went around all day

With his lips puckered

Afraid to swallow.

…………………….

Walking on the River Ice

A man could be a god

If the ice wouldn’t melt

And he could stand the cold.

…………………………

Sleep

I love to lie down weary

Under the stalk of sleep

Growing slowly out of my head,

The dark leaves meshing.

I’ll include a couple short free verse poems that I’ve written over the years. Fifty Years Later: An Apology was published in Clarion University’s literary journal, Tobeco. An Odd Couple was published in The Watershed Journal.

Fifty Years Later: An Apology

(For C. D. S.)

We would have shuffled

Through life stunted and lame

Our lives bound

By yearbook pages

Yellowed love letters…

But, for the rending

………………………..

An Odd Couple

We go nowhere

But together

Wherever we are

We are content

You, in my contentment

Me, in your contentment

May we always be so.

I cannot give you much advice about how to go about writing short free verse poems other than seek them out and read them when found. On more than one occasion I’ve begun with a lengthy, incoherent jumble of lines, stanzas and dead ends. Then, as I consider what am I really trying to say, I begin paring the verbiage down to the crux of it all. In the end I have found the motherlode. Why dress it up and risk hiding what I really want to say? Try your hand at writing and sharing short form poems.

Note from the author:

Since retiring from academia I have steadfastly resisted writing formal expository prose. More to the point I resist researching, distilling and writing about something that I enjoy. That being said, this brief commentary may lack detail as I have not researched the topic, and the reader may even identify an inadvertent error or two, but that is due to my dogged resistance to being pedantic. (No, I’m not trying to be ironic here.)