From: Alixwrites_at_aol.com <Alixwrites>
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 11:20:35 EDT

One of the things I loved about this poem was that I had to read it three times before I realized it rhymed. I think what the original critic was saying about taking out the line breaks and being left with prose is a reaction to what I see as the poem's perfect seamlessness. There certainly is imaginative use of language here (e.g., "me-shoving"), language which creates a mental picture ("some cheap-tie, careerist, dull cul?-sac he's speeding to") and it evokes a strong emotional reaction. Judging from the large amounts of clunky rhyming poetry I receive from teens who write to me, it seems that many young people are only being exposed to very formal poetry and getting the idea that rhyme + iambic pentameter = poetry with no other requirements. Shakespeare, Dickinson, and Frost were all wonderful poets, but I don't think it would be a horrible idea to expose students to poetry like this, which is less traditional, both in form and subject matter.
  Alexandra

Alex Flinn
_www.alexflinn.com_ (http://www.alexflinn.com/)
Received on Mon 18 Apr 2005 10:20:35 AM CDT