endings
I was working on a poem in the new series yesterday and thinking about endings. Those last couple of lines or the stanza that seals the deal. I came across a discussion of how to end poems a few weeks back and I wanted to contribute something to the conversation, but then realized I could scarce put into words the weird confluence of words, image, and rhythm that ends any given poem.
I actually could probably say the same about any given series. Granted some things just wear themselves out and I'm like "Yer done." but others come to what feels like closure with a given piece, and rarely, in rearranging for zines or book mss. do I move it out of its place. There is nothing ins specific that makes a final poem a final poem, in a shorter series or even in a book. Here it's more about energy and intent than rhythm. But it's a similar feeling.
As for individual poems, there are lines I write and I'm like "This is a beginning." or "This belongs in the middle." and rearrange accordingly. But sticking that ending is very much dependent on the rest of the poem that came before it. I always joke that I am a poor baker, terrible, in fact, since I hate measuring and timing things, so mostly rely on sniffing out when something--a cake, for example, is done. Of course, I am wrong sometimes, though often I am right. Poems feel a lot like this, except it's more reliant on sound and rhythm than smell or touch when you take something out of the oven.
When I was in grad school, I remember having a discussion with a faculty member that my poems had a maddening tendency to be too shellacked and perfectly composed. At the time, I would have disagreed that they were just polished (lol) but I can see it when I look at older work. The endings are less perfect now, and there are some poems, in their fragmentation, that defy ending at all. You could probably say the same about entire series. (These are the ones I possibly revisit later on intentionally or unintentionally.)
Of course, the balance is how to get the reader to follow you to the conclusion, rather than forcing them down a hallway or a path. How to make it feel natural and not forced. Like it's their idea, not yours. I fail sometimes here too. But luckily, that is what revision is for.
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