I simplify Jacques Barzun’s lessons in his first two chapters of Simple and Direct to be 1) make sure you know what your words mean (diction), and 2) make sure the order of your words say what you want them to say (linking). Chapter three, “Tone and Tune, or What Impression Will It Make?” follows directly from those two lessons.

I was fortunate to be included in a poetry project conceived by Tom Murphy and Alan Berecka. They selected a group of poets from throughout the US and beyond (some quite well known) to participate in an ancient Japanese art form: the Renga. The renga is a both a verse form and a collaborative project. The verse form is similar to the haiku, but adds two more lines of seven syllables. The collaborative element is that the poem is written by several poets who read each other's words and write in response to the other poems.