SESSION 12 — Resonant Closure
Photo by Ioana Cristiana on Unsplash
Discussion:
Some works of art captivate us from the beginning. Others weave their way into our hearts without us even knowing…and right at the end, they pull the thread, and there we are bleeding all over the floor, wondering what just happened.
How does this poem achieve that? What techniques does the writer use in the last five lines, and how do they contrast with the rest of the poem?
Linda Pastan (1932-2023) was an American poet of Jewish origin. She was an author of over 15 books of poetry and essays. And from 1991 to 1995, she was the Poet Laureate of Maryland.
What We Want
What we want
is never simple.
We move among the things
we thought we wanted:
a face, a room, an open book
and these things bear our names—
now they want us.
But what we want appears
in dreams, wearing disguises.
We fall past,
holding out our arms
and in the morning
our arms ache.
We don’t remember the dream,
but the dream remembers us.
It is there all day
as an animal is there
under the table,
as the stars are there
even in full sun.
Writing Prompt:
Write a poem that leads the reader through a moment, a thought, or a feeling.
End with an image (or two) that lingers—something that shifts the meaning, adds depth, or leaves an echo.
Want to make it even stronger? Try using contrasting images in the final lines—something hidden vs. something visible, something still vs. something moving, something small vs. something vast.
If you’d like to share your new creation with us, click below. We’d love to read your work!