A Page Left Open

An unfinished page without a verdict

This poem begins with something not completed. It does not immediately describe that incompletion as a failure or a triumph. The next action, leaving space, is what changes the scene. The blank area on the page becomes available rather than merely empty.

The distinction between a promise and a possibility is carried by the final lines. “Might” does not guarantee a word will arrive. It gives the speaker a way to keep a place without claiming control over the next day’s attention, circumstances or inspiration.

Reading the white space

The line breaks create the very kind of space the poem describes. Short lines slow the movement toward the final word. A prose version would communicate similar information, but the reader would encounter the ending in a more continuous flow.

Try putting the phrase “not a promise” on the same line as the preceding sentence. The qualification becomes less visible. On its own line, it interrupts an easy motivational reading and asks the reader to accept a smaller claim.

A response can begin with a different unfinished object: a melody, a sketch or a conversation left for another time. Name the space that remains available without forcing an optimistic result. A quiet ending can hold hope through attention and proportion, rather than by announcing that everything will certainly work out.