Poetry in Black and White

When creating the work for Poetry in Black and White , my desire led me to experiment with a few 'structural' forms of poetry. Some of the structures are a bit loose, as in the poem I'm excerpting form the book here. This particular poem, Golden Strand Smile , is a one-sentence poem. The idea intrigued me - write a one-sentence poem that covers fifteen or more lines.

This concept breaks one of the major rules of writing - no run-on sentences. I felt like a kid in school with the Phys Ed teacher subbing in English class. I could get away with something! What I did not dream would happen became a poem I feel owns a strength and a wistfulness and a melancholy and a gentleness I otherwise would never have attained.

See? I'm still in the long sentence mode! May I present to you a peek into the upcoming book Poetry in Black and White:

Golden Strand Smile

A golden strand smile

tickles her eyes, green and welcome,

a sign of mirth gurgling

beneath the soft rise and fall of her heart

as I continue to stumble over gangly words

in need of a good sanding,

not because they are sharp or unkind

but because the words come forth as damaged

and pained and solemn and mournful and sad and heart-broken

when all I want

is to capture that smile as ally,

not derogator,

so my own heart may rise and soar

and whisk the veil covering my desire away

and share breaths, conversations, ideas and

ideals until the golden strand smile turns

silver, familiar and cozy as a warm autumn day.