i just read someone else's body, a chapbook from cannibal by claire donato. aside from being weird and smart and funny, claire donato is great at line breaks. each line is a beautiful unit. you can see this best in the first poem, "The Night, What It Allows":
The walls are tearing
out of their paint. My legs
are crossed. I am not
listening to the TV
in the other room. I am not
listening to the television. The window next
to the television is
turning away. The window is
open. There is a person
outside of it, screaming. I am lying
on a television, my eyes are closed,
someone is breaking into my
house: I have always been afraid
of the night, what it allows. I have
never been afraid of the depth
of your fall: in, on, arms, quarrel,
voice...I am never afraid
to layer my breath over yours--
and when I ask you to plot your anger
on a line, I am referring to fear, how
it is linear: see how mine moves
upward in a diagonal line?
See how it moves up to choose?
Why are you lying in a heap on the floor?
i just typed the whole poem. i didn't plan to do that, i just didn't want to stop. am i in trouble? who cares, do you see what i mean about the line breaks? beautiful.
here is another poem from the chapbook that i love, it is so great:
You can read more poems and buy the book here.
