The Problem of Sentences

[andyfox]

A sentence is an idea. An idea with urgency.
A feeling for the sun before it rises.
The imagination loves the wall of a building,
loves the floor and the square window
that looks out on it. The scent of jasmine
is how the plant climbs up the wall
built by the Knights of Rhodes.
But the sentence stresses the meaning,
making us notice an unruly jasmine against
the orderly stone wall. We say our bus
went down through the village of the insane,
or that the eucalyptus trees were tall.
That we saw a man dragging a big branch.
The sun will return whether you smile or cry,
clap or burn candles. But when I say whether,
the sentence may be thinking, Even so.

-by Linda Gregg, in the current New Yorker

[pshreck]

I'm so bad at understanding poems.

[Zeno]

Résumé

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren’t lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

Dorothy Parker


Critique:

Two sentences. No problems.


-Zeno

PS. The OOT is now the wrong forum for poetry. I think. The default forum is the Books/Software Forum, where a posted poem would certaintly cause considerable caustic consternation.

[andyfox]

Me too. I'm hoping John Cole helps us out. I liked the look and sound of this one.

[TimM]

This sentence no verb.