Tender Bone
Last week, I attended my first Washington Writers’ Publishing House event. It was a mix of writing workshop, showcase, book launch and open mic. They released their new mini anthology- Capital Love- and several contributors read their poems aloud. The central form of the workshop was one-sentence-poems, and it was led by Kim Roberts. Tips of the trade included:
give the poem a plot, as opposed to just making it observational
use punctuation intentionally for pauses
employ blank space and ‘odd’ line breaks to control reader pace
Everyone was given 5 minutes to write a one-sentence-poem of their own. This is mine:
the flesh was first to be devoured consumed thoughtless and unassuming falling off the rib of a tender bone only to pool in sweaty sheets and abandoned inhibitions heart dredged blue and whispering loud secrets for the pillowcase to catch and absorb