POIESIS NEWS

What is a Prose Poem?

Background and Variations

A couple years ago the prose poem was quite popular on Scrittura. They most often had a specific format because the editors of the time wanted them to be that way. Since Zay became the owner of Scrittura, prose poem submissions have continued but the format has become varied. We editors have discussed this and come to some conclusions.

The “prose poem” has been in use for at least two centuries according to the Academy of American Poets. I did some research and discovered there is actually quite a bit written about the form. There are NO standards I could find. To keep this article brief, I’ve highlighted the appropriate sections of my research and provided links, if you should choose to read further. There are some commonly used elements to the form:

· “the prose poem essentially appears as prose, but reads like poetry” · “demonstrates other traits such as symbols, metaphors, and other figures of speech common to poetry” · “written as prose, without the line breaks associated with poetry. However, it makes use of poetic devices such as fragmentation, compression, repetition, rhyme, metaphor, and figures of speech” · “prose poetry served as expression of resistance and rebellion against the past”

Scrittura now defines prose poetry as having: · Paragraph form. Ideally, it would be justified with both margins being straight. That isn’t possible in the Medium editor, so do the best you can. · Non-standard punctuation. Instead of using commas and periods, try using multiple spaces or dashes sometimes. · Usually, at least five lines long.

Here are some excellent examples, for your reference. As always, if you have questions, please ask.

©2023, Marilyn J Wolf