Toe in the Water

Cliché

Cliché

I have come to realise that the cliché is a much maligned creature. For so long we have reviled it, saying that it must not be used if we’re to write properly, that it should be cast out and something new and fresh substituted in its place. Yet, that’s not always possible - sometimes a cliché is still the best way to say something.

But it goes beyond that, especially if you write poetry. The thing about clichés is that they come with baggage. Each of them is a cliché because they’ve been used for years and have accumulated all sorts of moss in their lives, all of which now affects their meaning and means that they are positively obese with nuance, expression and adornment. And that makes them something special. They have become portmanteau words that say in a few words what it might take whole sentences to say otherwise.

In poetry, that’s extremely useful.

The trick then becomes to use them in such a way that their value overcomes their familiarity (which, as we all know, breeds contempt). And that needs an example to demonstrate.

Old Age

Is it really yesterday already?
There’s so much I had to say,
and now the times are folded over
with dreams so long forgotten
and memories before us spread.
I’ve honed my skills of long ago,
filled up my drawer of things to keep,
the rainy day may be tomorrow.


Line count: 8
Free verse
For Express It In Eight, 04.16.24
Prompt: Skills of yesteryear.

See that "rainy day?" It’s a cliché because it’s part of a well worn saying - to keep something for a rainy day. So I can use it to say exactly that with two words instead of seven. The cliché becomes a magical form of shorthand.

We actually do this all the time: “great minds,” “jack of all trades,” the early bird.” And poetry can pounce upon such things and use it to say a mouthful.

That’s what I think today, anyway.


Word count: 337