on poetry & being human

Share this post
the art of titles (or, title discourse ft. seething jealousy)
despyboutris.substack.com

the art of titles (or, title discourse ft. seething jealousy)

Despy Boutris
May 3, 2021
2
Share this post
the art of titles (or, title discourse ft. seething jealousy)
despyboutris.substack.com

Titles are tricky things—and, for whatever reason, titling your own work, specifically, is the trickiest. That’s how I feel, anyway. I can help my friends and students and classmates come up with titles but, when it comes to my own poems, titling often is an impossible task.

Unfortunately, it’s a task that’s also necessary. A title, really, is part of the poem: it offers context, establishes a tone/position, or prepares readers to pay special attention to a certain line or lines.

Sometimes, I want titles to be simple, easy. Other times, I think: if someone saw this title in a literary journal’s table of contents, would they be inclined to flip to its page? Would it catch their attention? Would it stand out?

For some poems, there is power in a “simpler” title. Mary Oliver’s titles, for instance, are pithy and accessible, which complements her poems and writing style. A few include: “At Black River,” “August,” Banyan,” “Breakage,” “Fall,” and “The Hermit Crab.”

For other poems, there is power in the more verbose or detailed titles, though of course this also depends on the poem and the poet. Kayleb Rae Candrilli is a master of good, long, and clever titles, and these feel appropriate for their writing. In their second book, All the Gay Saints, the table of contents reads like a poem in itself, beginning:

WHEN I TRANSITION WILL I LOSE MY TASTE FOR THE STORM?
ON WANTING TOP SURGERY IN THE FASCIST REGIME
WHEN FACE TO FACE WITH FASCISM
MY SHADOW LOOKS MORE LIKE A MAN THAN I DO
SINNERS MUST LIVE WITH WHAT THEIR SINS SOW
THERE IS A POINT AT WHICH I TIRE OF MY OWN FEAR

Kayleb’s titles always tickle me. These titles are different from Mary Oliver’s because they should be different. These poets’ poetics are different, as are their poems’ tones, their voices, et cetera…

Beyond these examples, though, what has been most useful to me has been thinking about titles as fitting into different categories. As poet Jennifer Chang explained in a workshop several years ago, there are five different kinds of titles.

  • The Helium Title: gives new meaning to the poem, expands the meaning of the poem

  • The Greased Pig Title: title that runs away from any specific “title” duties, avoids giving any direct/obvious meaning to the poem

  • The License Plate: so as to “announce” itself—what type of poem this is going to be

  • The Spotlight: pulls out a phrase or word and shines the focus on that word(s)

  • Not Wearing a Tie(tle): “untitled” poems, poems titled with numbers, letters, etc.

Consider your own poems, or look at your work-in-progress’s table of contents. Do you utilize one kind of title more than the others? Is there another kind of title that might better serve one of these poems?

If you, too, struggle with titles, another thing that my own work has benefitted from—making me less reliant on friends (thank you, Kayleb and Marissa!) for title help—is keeping a list of titles I admire. Here are a few titles I love, all from poems that you can read online.

  • When my First Boyfriend Learned I Was on Anti-Psychotics, He Laughed & Told Me He Always Suspected I was Crazier than I Let On

  • What we have in common is that we aren’t the main characters of our story, or Princess Jasmine and Esmeralda meet for tea

  • Indianapolis Elegy

  • Selfie with Lightning Strike

  • Self-Care ft. Impending Doom

  • Denouement

  • Alternate Ending with Beach House

  • Poem in Which Nothing Happens

  • Hillbilly Leviathan

  • Half Girl, Then Elegy

  • In a Land Where Everything Is Already Trying to Kill Me, I Enter a New Phase of My Life in Which It Would Be Very Bad If I Died

And a few more:

  • AUBADE TO A COLLAPSED STAR

  • MARGINALIA

  • APRICOT LAMENT

  • AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MY HUNGERS

  • THE CITY HAS SEX WITH EVERYTHING

  • HILLBILLY LEVIATHAN

  • [POEM IN WHICH EVEN YOUR ABSENCE IS MISSING]

  • DEAR MOM—

  • WEST VIRGINIA NOCTURNE

  • RIVER BAPTISM

  • TEXARKANA APOCHRYPHA

“Self-Care ft. Impending Doom” is a MOOD. Maybe I’ll try a “Back on Tinder ft. Debilitating Depression” poem, because that’s also a mood, right? Anyways. I hope my mom doesn’t see this.

If there are any title-experts out there, please share your wisdom with us. How on earth do you do it?

-DB
Website
Twitter
Instagram
Store

Share this post
the art of titles (or, title discourse ft. seething jealousy)
despyboutris.substack.com
Comments

Create your profile

0 subscriptions will be displayed on your profile (edit)

Skip for now

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.

TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2022 Despy Boutris
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Publish on Substack Get the app
Substack is the home for great writing