Alternative Sentencing

Alternative Sentencing

sententia “”a thought expressed”

I’ve been thinking about sentences, and how they are under-appreciated despite their importance to stories and books, and even how they are deployed in poems with clever line breaks.

We call a talented writer a “word-smith” but I’ve never heard anyone called a “sentence-smith.”

And that makes me sad, because words come relatively easy to most people, with access to their own brain, the OED or a drop-down menu Thesaurus. What really sets a writer apart is their sentence sensibility.

So, here’s my ode to the sentence. Pay attention, class, and put down those iPhones.

The sentence is a getaway car, idling at the curb;
The driver is nervous and wearing sunglasses.

The sentence is a Tupperware container, with a snap-on lid;
perfect for storing leftovers.

The sentence is a confessional booth, and the writer is both penitent
and priest.

I was married once for sixteen years.
I have been in love with sentences for three times as long.

If you sentence me to twenty more years, shackled to my writing desk and only writing sentences, I’ll take that plea bargain.

Screen shot from the movie “Baby Driver” (Sony Pictures/TriStar) 2017