Keeping Things Whole by Mark Strand (p. 381)

In a field
I am the absence
of field.
This is always the case.
Wherever I am
I am what is missing.

When I walk
I part the air
and always
the air moves in
to fill the spaces
where my body’s been.

We all have reasons
for moving.
I move
to keep things whole.

The lines in the poem are short. The diction and sentence structure are simple. However, the idea introduced in the poem is quite profound. Hence, the interesting line breaks help the readers slow down so that the idea could be absorbed as the poem is read. Every line has its own picture or thought that contributes to the entire idea of the poem. The line breaks put more emphasis on the meaning of each thought. There are only six sentences in the poem. Each sentence, however, encompasses more than one idea because of the line breaks used by the poet. When reading a poem, readers usually picture what they have read at the end of each line. Having lines in a poem broken in this way gives readers more time to picture the entire scene the line suggests with more details than having the whole sentence on one line. For example, after I read the first line, I can picture “the field” with plants, trees, wind, and space. If the line had been “In a field I am the absence,” the picture I would have of the field would not be so complete, because then I would concentrate more on speaker, his absence, and the meaning of his absence. Thus, the poet chose to have his lines broken in this way to stress the importance of the picture he creates in the poem. This poem is very interesting. The words are so simple, yet they express such complex meaning.