Unwoven – Poetry of Form and Release

What difference in a little poetic structure? Across 17 traditional forms of poetry–from ballad and sonnet to ghazal and ZaniLa Rhyme–writer, podcaster, and educator Steve Chisnell juxtaposes similar poems in both traditional styles and free verse, “Poetry of Form and Release,” to explore the effects of poetic construction on meaning itself. Along the way, his speakers find their lives torn, unraveled, or dangling as they wrestle with aging, memory, love, myth, and the promise of language. From Waywords Studio, Chisnell’s first book is a layered and provocative collection rich in ironies and meanings found not merely in its words but in the patterns beneath them, not merely in the verse but in the spaces between. The book includes an extensive section of author notes on the inspiration for the poems and as a primer on the meaning in forms. More extensive materials for classroom students and teachers are also available.