First Lines and Last Words
First impressions matter when it comes to the way that areader—or for that matter, an editor— enters a poem. If I am reading forpleasure, I decide whether to keep reading a poem or not because of the firstline. Is that unfair? Probably. There could always be a huge payoff despite alimp first line, and great first lines don’t always ensure a reward at the end.
In multiple poetry workshops, my peers discussed the waythat we “enter” a poem. Is the first line a door that a reader walks through?If a first line is a door, then what does a closed-door look like? It feelslike a dead-end to me if the meaning is opaque or if there isn’t any joy inplaying with language. A dead-end could also be a cliché.
What is the role of the first line and what is a “good” one?I like to think of it as a running start that brings the reader immediatelyinto the poem. I like when my curiosity is piqued, when I have to keepreading to understand the line, and when the sentence structure is pushing meforward. I also like when there is joy in playing with sounds and language fromthe start. I want to feel like there are possibilities and surprises ahead.
There are no “rules” for writing a first line, onlyconsiderations. Some questions that I ask myself during revision include: Is myfirst line buried in my draft? Is my last line actually my first line? Is whereI arrive where I need to begin? Am I building momentum?
Here is a selection of first lines from poems that we havepublished recently on Barnstorm:
“DoWhat You Will with My Mother’s Shalwar” by Maryam Ghafoor
I wear them without a kameez,
“Daysof Hand to Mouth” by Dennis Cummings
We worked until dawn back then—
“Gofor Gin” by Audrey Gradzewicz
At dusk, when regal moths kill themselves ignobly
That was the day I began to paint the rabbit
“Godas an Illinois hops farm” by Anna Girgenti
in early July, just before harvest, mud on the frillywhite hem
These lines make me want to keep going!
If first lines are difficult to nail, last lines can be even more challenging during the writing process. When we “leave” a poem, what do we leave with? Is it a feeling, a thought, a realization, an opening? Last lines are more difficult to appreciate out of context because they depend on everything that comes before them; they are a culmination instead of a possibility. Hopefully, they are zingy enough to send the reader back to the start again. In poetry, there are no first or last words.
Eve Glasergreen is the poetry editor of Barnstorm. She is a second-year MFA student at the University of New Hampshire. Follow her on Instagram @evgreens.