An American sentence in 10 words:
Do you #pause often enough to #capture tenderly special moments?
What’s an ‘American Sentence’?
Allen Ginsberg, inventor of the American Sentence, felt that the haiku didn’t work as well in English. Ginsberg decided to remove the line structure of the haiku, maintaining the requirement of 17 syllables total. He felt that removing the line count freed the American Sentence up for the idiosyncrasies of English phonemes.
The requirements:
- Composed in one line;
- Syllabic, 17 syllables;
- Condensed, written with no unnecessary words or articles;
- Complete sentence or sentences;
- Includes a turn or enlightenment.
#PenYourTen
The above American Sentences were first written for two separate #PenYourTen Twitter prompts; the prompt words were: ‘Capture’ and ‘Pause’. These prompts require a response of exactly 10 words.
Let’s write poetry together!

When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.
–Ben Harper (b. 1969)
Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!
A beautiful question. Wish I had a great answer. 🙂
💜 Terveen 💜
“I pause, for a moment, until i lose track of time.”Love what you did here David! ❤️😁👌
🤍 Ken 🤍
Beautiful reminder. Thank you, David. It’s so easy to miss these precious moments, isn’t it?
How are you all doing? Mustn’t be easy for your wife especially right now. How are her family and friends doing? I was listening to some Russians sharing via Dutch news what is going on with the increasing clamp-downs and the financially worsening circumstances and their bold desire to keep protesting against the war, no matter the consequences. I am praying for the Russian people too.
I’ll answer after shabbat, Anna 💟
I pause, I capture, I write. I cry, I laugh and mostly shake my head these days! 💕
😘 Cindy 😘
💖🙏🌈😎
Do not pause your prayers, let others benefit with it.
❤ Jane ❤
❤️ David ❤️
Beautiful!
😊 Suzette 😊
Drying eyes, capturing sadness while pausing for the returning joy.
❤ Lauren ❤ ~ that's beautiful!
Thank you David