THE DIFFERENCE
by Emily Ruppel
They want from me the difference between poetry and prose. For once, a simple taxonomic game! I tell my students: You may trust Prose to signal major movements well before they're ever made. No abrupt turns of scene or argument. A civil (if not pragmatic!) raconteur. Not so with wily and self-surprising Poem known for its kidnappings and too-long-untreated (some would say) bipolar disorder. Notice now how in your hand the warm clay mug of bitter milk cools as you stand contemplating whether to go along with or reject this proposition. Midnight in Sri Lanka, petals of snow on the hard dark ground. |
Emily Ruppel is a PhD student in communication at the University of Pittsburgh, with focus areas in rhetoric of science, bioethics, STS, feminist theory, and oral history.
Prior to her doctoral work, Emily studied poetry at Bellarmine University in Louisville (B.A. '08) and science writing at MIT (M.S. '11). She has spent many years working as a professional writer and editor for academic and popular outlets; among them, God & Nature magazine is a favorite project. |