Write a poem that turns in the middle.

Line 6 is the hinge. Everything before it leans one way; everything after swings the other.

Use repetition, contradiction, or an actual word hinge (e.g. “but,” “still,” “then”).

Often we use the end of a line to do this, too. It’s a definite choice. A moment of pause. A moment to catch the reader’s assumptions of what might come next.

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