Sentence Poems

A sentence poem generally starts off each verse with a phrase or full sentence* — often in the form of a question. The same phrase, sentence, or question is then repeated at the beginning of each verse throughout the poem. 

What follows the repeated phrase is a loose text or verse-line completion of the sentence or question — or text prompted by the phrase. 

Sentence poems can vary in word placement on the page. Some:

1. parse or break out the finishing verse in a more structured pattern that sets off the repeated portion.
2. end the series of repeated phrases — generally those with answers or responses of some sort — with a final tagline. 
3. play with layout to make the poem a little more aesthetically pleasing to the eye — distributing verse lines left, middle, and right of the page.
4. have portions in the form of other poems — not applying to every line format.

These variations are meant to aid aesthetics, emphasis, meaning, experience, etc. 

As examples of this original poetic form, consider:

1. sentence poems on life and love at this blog (click the "sentence" label below)
2. sentence poems found in my book "Hope Springs Eternal Still" (see upper right)
3. the individual sentence poem "When She Came Around Again"

NOTE: Links to my website above need to be rerouted.

---

*The repeated phrase, sentence, or question does not always start each verse, but "classically" does.