Ricocheting and Reverberations
“A Poem of any length neither can be, nor ought to be, all poetry.”
~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The lazy ones all say, “I like this line.”
That keeps them from admitting that they don’t
Like all the others. That is all just fine
But robs them. What they mean, though, is, “I won’t
Take time and pains to figure out the play
Of words against each other all throughout
The poem, and how line and line can say
Far more together, and can have more clout,
When they are taken, bound like fasces sticks,
To make a bundled whole for striking on
The brain. A poet multiplies his tricks
By juxtaposing them. In chess a pawn
Is just a pawn but masters use them with
The queen. The lines give more than just their pith.
~ Phillip Whidden