Thursday, April 20, 2006

At the risk of belaboring a point:


Really, I hope you haven't yet had enough of these flowers, because (miracle!) they just keep showing up, turning out.

Last night, I was flipping through something--who even knows what, now--and saw the line "Poetry should show, not tell." I went through this phase a couple of years ago in which, inexplicably, I misread lots of things, as though my brain was having a good laugh at my expense. I misread most absurdly. I can't even give you an example, because they were all such strange and hilarious things, and they always flicked in for just a second, just long enough for me to register the misreading before comprehending what was actually in front of me. Those were funny days.

So, when I saw "Poetry should show, not tell," I was too too pleased with the fact that my brain went, "Ooo! I know what that should read! It should say, 'Poetry should know, not smell.'" Leaving aside the fact that good poetry should both know and smell (just as it should probably both show and tell), I have to say I'm kind of proud of that one, as a new general rule.

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