Picasso

The intro from "American Life in Poetry" read, "The great Spanish artist Pablo Picasso said that, in his subjects, he kept the joy of discovery, the pleasure of the unexpected."

I like this poem, but I don't necessarily like how the em dashes and line breaks are done. Agree? If not, help me see why this it makes sense.

"Picasso" by Tim Nolan

How can we believe he did it—
every day—for all those years?

We remember how the musicians
gathered for him—and the prostitutes

arranged themselves the way he wanted—
and even the helmeted monkeys

with their little toy car cerebella—
posed—and the fish on the plate—

remained after he ate the fish—
Bones—What do we do with this

life?—except announce: Joy.
Joy. Joy—from the lead—

to the oil—to the stretch of bright
canvas—stretched—to the end of it all.

Union Square

I am head over heals for this poem. As much as I love free verse and slam, pieces like this remind me the unmatchable power of structured rhyme and rhythm.

"Union Square" by Sara Teasdale

With the man I love who loves me not,
      I walked in the street-lamps' flare;
We watched the world go home that night
      In a flood through Union Square.

I leaned to catch the words he said
      That were light as a snowflake falling;
Ah well that he never leaned to hear
      The words my heart was calling.

And on we walked and on we walked
      Past the fiery lights of the picture shows —
Where the girls with thirsty eyes go by
      On the errand each man knows.

And on we walked and on we walked,
      At the door at last we said good-bye;
I knew by his smile he had not heard
      My heart's unuttered cry.

With the man I love who loves me not
      I walked in the street-lamps' flare —
But oh, the girls who ask for love
      In the lights of Union Square.