The Balance Beam

Sometimes we have to make decisions between too little and too much. In normal circumstances, balance is the key. We want to provide just enough. In the case where too many questions arise because we have provided the improper balance, decisions must be made. It is a good idea to have someone we trust test our work for us.

Too little can leave our reader unsatisfied and empty. I recently wrote a poem that referred to “he” a number of times. A couple of my readers were very curious as to who “he” was. Did I provide too little? Maybe not since the poem was a complete work. Who he is wasn’t important in the grand scheme of the poem. Granted, the poem could have gained some length if I had included clues about him. Instead, I actually gave myself the inspiration to write another poem about him.

Too much can get us mixed reactions in knowing what the point was. In poetry, especially, too much can be a bad thing. Most poems are smaller works; filling them with more stuffing than necessary leads to an overflow in the oven. We all know or can imagine how awful that is to clean up.