A Poetry Break

Today a book called to me from my shelf. It was a book I bought and haven't read yet. Amazing! It's a book of essays by one of my favorite poets, Mark Strand. As soon as I started reading the first essay I realized why Strand appealed to me so much -- he uses the absolute correct amount of words. Not too many (like Joyce Carol Oats) or too few (like e.e. cummings). Perfect.

Here is an example. One of my favorite poems of all time:

Keeping Things Whole

In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is
always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.

When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body's been.

We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.

See? There are no words that don't belong there. This is very hard to do...especially in creative writing. I try hard in my own writing to pare it down to only what is necessary to tell the story. I'm not nearly as good at is as Strand is, but I can strive to be better. I could wax poetic (no pun intended) on Strand for a good hour but I'll spare you. If you head to the library or bookstore and check out one of his books (I suggest Reasons for Moving or a book of his selected poems) you'll see for yourself what I mean.

To learn more about this amazing Canadian poet go here.