Lately I have been thinking about the formulae we use when we speak and write. Sometimes these things feel like they get in the way. Who wants to stick to sonnet form, anyhow? But sometimes formulae are important, because a) filter b) they smooth things along when the words stall c) they help you reach out to people you didn't know you could communicate with. I think etiquette or social norms of speech are mainly in place out of habit, and since they often work, we can use them to hide things from ourselves. Normally I'd say "no hiding! no lying to yourself, writer!", but I can see the benefit in keeping some thoughts on the down-low. When you acknowledge a truth, it asks you to act. And acting usually comes with change, or at least effort, and those are difficult! There is definitely something to be said for our use of form, and something to be said for deviancy therefrom--it would certainly make a bigger impact.
Marion Strobel
The barnacle of crowds—
Like a tuck
On a finished skirt, unnoticed—
He collected his material
Covertly:
A ragpicker,
A scavenger of words.
And the gleanings
Of his hearing
He would costume
In his own words,
And parade before
A listener.
So that now,
Across the tea-cup,
He was telling
Of his research,
Of his study,
Of his deep thought-out
Conclusions.
And the lady,
Connoisseur of old thoughts
Bound in new gilt bindings,
Smiled approval
At the finding
Of another curio
To place
In her long gallery.
