Punctuating a Poem - Part 2

, . ; - : / : - ; . ,

When tutoring college students enrolled in English classes, I describe punctuation as a road map. It helps us readers find our way in a sentence or a paragraph. I explain that a period tells us to stop fully and look both ways. If there's no punctuation, we keep right on going. A comma is more of a rolling stop (the kind we all do at certain corners).

But, whether we're talking creative writing or academic essays, I encourage every student to pay attention to his or her pauses by reading out loud. I reason, "Where you pause, you'll want your reader to also pause, right?" 

As a creative writer, how you choose to do this is up to you. You could insert a comma, a line break, or some other funky, unexpected symbol (a slash, a dash, etc.). You are setting the rules.

But, once you set those rules, just as with a form poem, stick to them. If you put a comma in one place, a line break in another, and no symbol still further along, you will have asked us to detour from the place we're trying to get to - the meaning and feeling of the poem. 

We will be lost in the lines of the poem.  It will be like reaching a dead end in an unfamiliar city.

My advice on punctuation is to do what feels right to you in the piece you're writing. Just maintain that choice all the way through that last line.

Earlier Post: Punctuating a Poem - Part 1