In Progresss

This is a first draft of something I started recently. 

The Hard Return

Matt Quarterman

So when you come to the end of the line
you must take the long left and proceed slowly right.
Your tracks slightly wander from the path you've divined.
     The hard return.


It can be tough to see from your current angle
but the loops and the curves, inconsistent and slight,
cut off the way back and leave us to dangle.
     The hard return.


The mild and the meek may inherit the earth
but to hold an inheritance requires some might.
The soft set out also, but we know how this works:
     the hard return.


There's nowhere to go but onward and further,
a shuttle that weaves. Passing dark, passing light,
make the sign of the cross or you'll find yourself worse for
     the hard return.


You may not even notice the last step in your journey,
not recognize the place but know that it's right.
This is where to stop, where to enter - you're learning
     the hard return.


You'll know that it's right when the silence and still
shudder to a roar, crashing cymbals of quiet.
What burdens you carry can rest here until
     the hard return.





I've been on a bit of a tear lately, at least compared with my poetry output in the last five years or so. Songs have taken up a lot of my time and attention, and will continue to do so. But I'm finding some of my limitations in using the forms of songs to go into detail on things that interest me but might not sound good in a playlist. 


Like this one: I was pondering the differences between what in typography and word processing are called "hard returns" and "soft returns." A hard return is when you press the Enter or Return key, it announces that this is the end of a line and the start of a new paragraph. A soft return is usually activated by pressing Shift at the same time as Enter, and it ends the line but does not begin a new paragraph. It's useful for things like bullet points when you might want sub-points or explanation of an item but don't want a new bullet. 


But as I was rolling the phrases around in my head, I realized that there was something richer there, a lot of ambiguity and multiple meanings contained inside that might be fun to play around with. I'm not satisfied with it as a completed poem, the different meanings don't quite seem to connect to each other yet to form a narrative or even a whole cloth.


I've been working with a lot of repetition and poetic forms, I don't believe this is any form that has a name or pedigree, but it started flowing this way as soon as I sat down to write, so I wasn't going to sniff at it.


I'm sure there will be plenty of revisions to make, maybe in another entry I'll post edited versions and let you, gentle reader, compare.