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Writing Reveals The Work Of Becoming Yourself
- Longenbach finds sounding like yourself on the page surprisingly difficult, which leads him to explore identity and selfhood in poems.
- That struggle to 'be yourself on the page' becomes a thematic engine about how we recognize and rebuild the self.
French Bistro Swan Song Became An Allegory
- Longenbach recounts living in a tiny medieval village in southern France and eating at a charming bistro that vanished the next morning.
- He used that transitory experience as an allegory for sudden loss and life's impermanence.
End Long Poems By Moving Forward Not Circling Back
- When ending a long poem, avoid merely circling back; move the poem to an unexpected place instead.
- Longenbach describes resisting predictable closure and using an echo from another poem (suitcase) to reach beyond the poem's perimeter.