Exercises in Brevity

* The purpose of brevity in poetry is to create a poem where each word counts, removing all superfluous words that do not add to the overall experience. Here are some examples of some brevity that I have written. Thank you all for reading!

Exercise one: Create a piece of brevity in response to "This is just a dream" in exactly 25 words. (Gold Trophy on AllPoetry.com)


Karmic Violation

He climbed off her, stench
                from cigars, bourbon, Old Spice
                branding her like a Holstein
                                forever tainted by his mark.
 
She vigorously plunged the knife.


Exercise two: In 20 words, write a poem with the theme "reality shifts". (Gold Trophy at AllPoetry.com)


Impatiens

The miracle of a birth,
a baby bor to an unassuming
  mother. Pink petals
of impatiens
flutter by in celebration.


Exercise three: In 20 words, create a poem using the theme "sleep study" (Gold)


Hush Now

Dreams rankle blistered bones
        taut nerves.

The science of wakefulness
        interpret raw data
    transform the ever-alert
        into a napping baby.


Exercise four: In 101 words, create a piece that is emotionally packed on any theme of your choice. (Honorable Mention)


One Hundred And One Reasons To Forget

I wade into gentle currents,
allow waves to cleanse dour anxieties
and brittle sentiments.
 
Relief engorges tense muscles,
yet your absence leaves
a cavernous chasm
where my heart once was affixed.
 
Picking up piercing shards
organizing them into an accordion file
do not diminish the anguish
that haunts dreamless sleep,
afraid to recall nightmares
slathered in baby oil.
 
It’s best that black reveries
remain in seamless darkness.
 
My fragmented mind blisters
into atoms and molecules, naked
to zealous eyes; I hear
gossamer accusations emanating
from blind lips, and I am paralyzed,
dumbstruck into submission
cowering behind dampened sheets
of silver satin.


Exercise five: In 50 words, create a piece about the word winter. (Gold)


Winter Heart

How is it I can lay adjacent to you
                         yet feel so distant,
                as if I can touch the moon
                         cascading over canopies
                of pine trees where crystal shards
                dangle, spearing my sallow heart?
               
The truth is you abandoned me
                         before the first snowfall
                turning the cobalt night into amber.