With a punch line, of course.
Or an invitation.
With a twist. Or a kiss.
Or an unanswerable question.
By circling back to the beginning.
Or with a bang. Or a whimper.
With a call to action.
With a five-course dinner.
With a clincher,
or a cliffhanger,
but not with a preposition.
Endings feel best
when of your own volition.
End with a flourish,
or a touch of cream.
On a high note. With a strong quote.
By making a scene.
End with a period.
Or end with a handshake.
End with an exclamation point.
Or end with heartbreak.
It’s okay to tie,
or to end in a draw,
but don’t end with ellipses
that just make things go on …
and on …
and on.
End in a fiasco.
Or end with a song.
End with a reversal.
End with a bell.
End with a cry
that all is well.
End with purpose
or allegory.
Every bit of our lives
is made of stories,
stories that end
so new stories begin,
so end well, end well.
Then start again.
Brilliant, fun, and beautiful!
thank you, Heidi! It began as ideas I often use for how to end poems–but seems to speak beyond the page 😉
David Wilcox has a great song about let’s start at the ending. It came to mind reading this.
there it is, as my friend Jack would say, “all power to the paradox”