Break

Dorianne Laux’s “Break” is a 20-line free verse poem, meaning that there are no consistent patterns of rhyme, rhythm, or meter throughout the entirety of the piece. The poem is constructed of just one stanza, or group of lines, providing a brief but detailed look into Laux’s personal life.

Laux is not constrained by any formal requirements, but that does not mean her poetry lacks consistency. Laux’s use of internal rhyme—the corresponding sounds between words within a line of poetry and another word either at the end of the same line or within another—always occurs after the use of a caesura. A caesura is a pause in the middle of a line of poetry, typically signified by full stops or commas. Laux employs these devices together a total of three times throughout the poem, but only when the caesura is created with a full stop.

The first instance of this occurs in Line 8. Laux describes the picture coming together on the puzzle board, stating that: “We patch together porch swings and autumn / trees, matching gold to gold. We hold / the eyes of deer in our palms” (Lines 7-9).