Sunday, July 8, 2012

-ing

I spent a year or two excising -ing from my daily reflections.  The workshop folk had a point.  There were many times I used it unthinkingly.  As with any rule, though, applying it to every situation is unwarranted.  I am also less certain of the importance of being definitive: past, present or future.

When I attended the poetry workshop
I learned
-ing is to be avoided
At almost every cost.
It is important to be definitive,
Certain:
Past certain
Present certain
Future certain.
-ing weakens the poem.
-Ing makes the verb
Into a process.
The process dampens
Into a noun.
The dance becomes
Dancing,
The song
Mere singing.
Death ekes into the gray
Of dying,
Life becomes living.
-ing forces the verb
To stay on
Like the guest after three days
Over-staying his welcome,
Her welcome.
The poem is meant
To be shorter
Than prose.
Soon there comes the time
For leaving.
Like now

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