“Fill The Page”

Cassandra Clovis

“Fill the page,” my teacher instructed to all of the students in my writing class.

But how should I? And why do I need to fill a page,

a lengthy, long page, to get out my deepest feelings

in the form of a poem? Yes, I write poems-

I feel that a poem deserves the blank spaces

between the lines and empty holes in the margins

and the pauses snuck into each of the stanzas

with the whispers of the white page.

A poem needs the emotional connection to quiet, 

as quiet resembles peace, loneliness, and much more;

A crowded poem isn’t as clear without the choppiness

all over the page, and a poem with too many words

may become meaningless, no matter how sophisticated or repetitive it

is. 

So, I can get my message across in half of the words you expect

and perhaps maybe that message has more of a reason

to exist in its shorter form.

I do not want to ruin a pure piece of writing to meet a minimum

requirement,

I do not want to push my wondrous brain further than it already works,

For if I do, I may not be able to tell my stories.

It all comes back to preference and imagination. 

With my scarce amount of words,

I will construct a whirlwind of ideas for you.

Poems have no requirements. Poems are written with freedom.

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• Category: Prose