Some tired thoughts on form

It took me almost two years to write Post Moxie. The process included brief periods of time when I thought I was done writing, and then out of nowhere I would write a few more stanzas. About six months after I had decided it was completely finished, I started writing these long, thin, punctuation-less poems that eventually evolved into square punctuation-less poems. Basically they look like Post Moxie stanzas but without punctuation. They are also far less interesting. I'm starting to think that I can't write in lines anymore after writing prose blocks for so long. I'm willing to accept this, but it's a difficult thing for a poet to accept. Then today I started reading Tomaz Salamun, whom I haven't read for a long time. His are the kind of the poems I want to write. I wish it was as easy as just deciding this. But I'm going to keep him at the back of my mind as I write. Or maybe envision him holding my hand as I write. Starting something new feels weird, even though I've been starting something new for over a year now. Here is a poem of his that I love:

Pity

On the subject of god briefly

he never said very much

never said rosemary

never said peace-loving

if there were ants in the corners

the ants stayed in the corners

for example dust

wherever it falls

down or to the side

or the existence of roots

all that god solves expertly

at times he says Archaic

but nobody budges

nobody wakes up

really nobody wakes up

at times he says we kill

those who bring flowers

and he buys light-colored paper

I bought light-colored paper

he says we killed those who brought flowers

and he commands the little boat to sail the sea

the trees to bend

something to fall so it creaks

you're the light of the world

no hiding place even in the mountains