Poem v. Short Story

For me, writing poems is sometimes easier than, although not as rewarding as, writing a short story.  I write poems when I cannot contain my emotions and the only thing to do is to express the child like rants in some form.  When I'm too distraught to write coherently because a lover has left or someone has died or I didn't get the job I wanted.  I turn to paper, or the screen, to get away from the black self.  The shadow gets express and then I can breathe.

But, I am most proud when I have constructed something that tells a story and fills in the space of my poems.  This has changed my writing.  When I sit down to write a story, it is sparse and words are  few in short sentences.   The stories about love, motherhood and girlhood are probably more like long poems.  My writer group thinks it needs to be unpacked and it's likely that the thoughts are in need of some unloading to be shaken out.  Where do I find that time?