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Turn this prose into verse without flattening it

A journal entry or note has a poem in it somewhere.

Longdraftingformrevision
Below is a piece of prose. Find the poem inside it.

1. Quote the five phrases with the most life in them. Say what makes each one live: a surprising verb, a concrete noun, an odd rhythm.
2. Identify what is prose scaffolding and can go: explanation, chronology, connective phrasing, anything that exists to make the paragraph flow.
3. Produce two versions: one in short free-verse lines, one in longer lines closer to the original breath.
4. Say what each version gains and loses.

Use my words. Introduce new language only where a line cannot stand without it, and mark every word you added.

Do not make it sound more poetic. Cut towards what is already there.

Prose:

Making it yours

  • Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
  • Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
  • If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.

Getting a draft going. Forms, constraints, and raw material for when there is no poem on the page yet.

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