Reflect

Maggie (u.s.a.)

[Research poem]

The Ideal

Is impossible
to reach but needed to strive
towards, hope, and dream

[Reflection]

In reflecting on this week, I think poetry is a form of writing with great benefit to academic writers. Condensing our ideas is difficult, especially the more complex they are. But the more complex, the more we need to be able to condense them. Why? Because clarity is critical in writing.

Whenever we present sentences so long and convoluted that they reflect the complexity of our thinking, we are doing the reader (and ourselves) a disservice. I’m not saying not to write these kinds of sentences, especially when you are sorting through your own thinking in your own drafts. It’s a normal part of the process. But poetry can help us understand our main point, generate important words, and redraft our thoughts and writing into a clear point that the reader will appreciate.