Funky functions function funkily.
In poetry, it’s not always a bad thing to sound like a broken record. For one, it can help reiterate an idea by creating both rhyme and rhythm within a given piece, and––for two––it can also provide the reader with a series of different experiences; acting more like a mirror for how certain actions and/or events like to repeat themselves throughout history: while still using the same word, phrase, and or clause to make a point.
Dive into madness:
Edgar Allen Poe, and his poem, The Bells, is a great example for how repetition creates a type of lyricism within the poem, and––at the exact same time––still presenting the reader with a solid idea of both insanity and all the stages of one’s life by using a mirror to showcase birth, childhood, marriage, and death. While each part describes different actions, intentions, and worldly views, each section of the poem is finished with some of the exact same lines:
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells–
Mirroring through activism:
Maya Angelou’s poem, Still I Rise, is another perfect example for how powerful repetition works within a poem. While its main focus is one of resilience, self-respect, and will-power, in the face of oppression, its relevance; which had first started in 1978; is just as strong as it had been in the years 1865 as it is in the year 2024; where there’re still certain groups of people who are still being oppressed by the very same people who are still in power. However, like the last three lines of her poem says, people, from all corners of this round planet will be able to say:
I rise […]
I rise […]
I rise.
…; in the face of oppression.
Twisting Words to make a Point:
So, the next time someone tells you that you sound like a broken record…tell them: good, maybe the point that is trying to be made can finally be accessed. Because, as a poet, there are many times where we are going to repeat ourselves––not just within a given piece of work, but within life itself, within the realm of hatred and oppression: of willful ignorance, and of fear mongering. Because, as a poet, it’s our job to remind the people of the battles we’ve fought––the wars we have won with a pen, instead of a sword.
Written by Gregory Gonzalez
Writer Bio: Gregory Gonzalez graduated from Sierra Nevada University, where he earned both a BFA and an MFA in Creative Writing. He's studied under and many other wonderful artists, and his works can be seen in the San Joaquin Review Online, Hive Avenue: A Literary Journal, the Dillydoun Review, Wingless Dreamer Publishing, Bridge Eight: Film & TV, Drunk Monkeys: Literature and Film, Causeway Literature, Nat 1 LLC, Vermilion Literature, Writing Workshops, and Havik Literary Journal.