Some thoughts on prose/narrative poetry

We had an abridged conversation in workshop tonight about prose/narrative poetry (I say "abridged" because it was truncated in that it didn't seem to go anywhere and we had quite a few more poems to critique). It started on a question I had for the class--when is narrative, or prose, form appropriate in poetry? I wasn't looking for a formulaic answer about when to use prose form over lyrical form, but rather, I wanted to hear some insights from the class. As someone who is very drawn to prose poetry (e.g., prose, paragraph blocks, etc.), it's something I'm really interested in discussing and researching (although I can't seem to find any essays on the subject online).

It seems as if many poets, when critiquing a poem, often feel the need to cut out articles, prepositions, "prosey" language, punctuation, etc. in an attempt to make the poem sound more lyrical, more rhythmic, perhaps more mysterious. I admit, these components can appear clunky or discordant in certain parts of poems or in a poem that is otherwise musical in its language. However, I think we are too quick to cut out articles or prepositions or lengthy lines just because it doesn't have the fragmented phraseology that is indicative in so much poetry. Is it so terrible to write a poem in full sentences? To write one in paragraph form?

The beauty of writing as an art form is that it can take on many forms. By way of this, different forms can influence each other. Prose can intermingle with poetry and vice versa. By writing a poem in a narrative form, we are at once telling a story and enlivening it with poetic imagination. Writing in prose does not equate to prosaic language. In other words, writing in a traditional manner does not make the writing dull or unimaginative. It's a way to add dynamism to the poem. Readers can say, Yes, I'm reading a narrative. But is there more? That being said, some poems written in full sentences or block form do not always take on a traditional narrative. For instance, Franz Wright's poem Imago or many poems in Elizabeth Willis' Meteoric Flowers are both very whimsical in their content but are presented on the page in blocks and full clauses. We see fiction writers merge mediums as well--Gabriel Garcia Marquez's fiction is palpable with whimsical, poetic language; the short stories in Mary Miller's Big World combine mundane scenarios with heightened peaks of larger perception. There is something rich and idiosyncratic in the coagulation of styles.

I find myself continually reasserting my hesitance in taking on that which is so indicative of poetry workshops--the impulse to cut. We have to first determine the heart of the poem, what it wants to be, where it wants to go, before we decide to omit anything (even parts as simple as articles or prepositions). Because of the hyper-inclination to revise or "clean up" the poem, I fear that this may be inhibiting the growth of more narrative or prose forms. By appropriating a classic form with our own fresh, strange themes or diction, we may be able to break open something entirely new.


**Update: Really great essay on Russell Edson/prose poetry--> http://www.believermag.com/issues/200403/?read=article_manguso