Proposals and Poetry

I’m a latecomer to poetry. Recently I had some help. My son and daughter-in-law gave me a subscription to Master Class, online lessons taught by well-known professionals. I opened the site and up popped a series by poet Billy Collins. I started listening.

Right away I was hooked. Everything he said seemed new and useful. I grabbed a notebook and started taking notes. I wondered what Collins might say that would help me improve my proposals and other writing.

He said a lot. Here’s some of what I learned, in my words, from Billy Collins and others.

Welcome distractions. Collins says there are no such things as distractions. What might seem like random thoughts may appear because they belong in our writing. In a recent talk, historian Annette Gordon-Reed echoed this notion when she said “things … come to me out of nowhere.” ¹ Think before dismissing seemingly oddball ideas.

Consider movement. Rhythm can help move a reader from vague attention to focused interest. Collins says that a flow of words with meaning can keep the reader engaged. In my article about lyrical writing I quoted Quntos KunQuest, who said “there’s…a metronome in writing. There’s still a beat to it;” and, from Barak Obama: “We come from everywhere and contain multitudes.” ²

Vary the format. Collins uses structure to help the reader settle into the story. Occasionally variations in format, such as substituting a three-line stanza in a poem with four-line stanzas, can help keep the reader engaged. In proposals, funder guidelines provide structure. We can vary the format with, for example, a one-line paragraph to focus the reviewer’s attention on your priorities.

Be imaginative. Collins suggests introducing something unexpected when writing poetry. A proposal reviewer may also find this refreshing. For example, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that progressive magazine Mother Jones shared information in a gift acknowledgement letter about four journalism outlets led by people of color. Readers expressed their appreciation.

Keep it simple. I enjoy short poems with lots of white space. I can see the words better, ponder their meaning, and consider how the poet has put them together. I also like simplicity in writing. Here’s a wonderful quote by Jack Kerouac that I saw written on a bookstore window: “One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.”

Summing up
It’s never too late to start reading poetry, and there are benefits. Poems of all kinds can spark ideas, and sometimes these find their way into proposals and other kinds of writing.

Parting poetry
Here is a poem in the format in which I received it in my daily Poem of the Day from the Poetry Foundation. I hope you enjoy it.

A Blank White Page
by Francisco X. Alarcón

is a meadow
after a snowfall
that a poem
hopes to cross