Storied Lines(prev untitled) edit
#5
(05-25-2022, 04:06 AM)brynmawr1 Wrote:  Driving home from hockey I see
black, crisscrossed scars on white concrete,
arranged at unnatural angles
revealing the geometry of intersected lives.
 
The tire squeals echo in the ether,
no longer heard by the living, 
still felt in my gut.

Was metal, bone rent and broken?
Futures shattered with the windshield,
a mosaic of infinite shimmering shards,
suspended in stopped time, lives inflected.
 
Or was the violence only of words?
Curses made at each other, fate;
an anger of inconvenience,
only promises broken.
 
Black lines on the road
have their secrets,
leaving me to wonder.
In mild critique and looking only at the first revision, I have only a few suggestions.

First, you nicely avoid "the" except at the beginning of your second stanza.  It's not bad there - you are referring to specific skid marks.  But might it not be better to remove it entirely (breaking suddenly into speculation) or perhaps replace it with "Their" to tie them to the marks?

Similarly, "the" at the end of your first stanza might be changed to "a" or something descriptive - "stark," for example.  ("[T]he ether" is fine, there's only one.)

After your explanation I can understand "promises broken," but without that context it's a bit problematic.  I'd put "conventions" rather than "promises" (right of way, obeying signals and other limits).  In the same stanza, "made" (in "Curses made") could be a bit more descriptive and active - "breathed" or "growled," but better?

And the last stanza, if this is not too far for moderate, needs a little more punch.  "[H]ave" for example, could be "hold" or even "flaunt;" alternatively (and please pardon the rewrite) the whole second line could be removed and the last changed leaving something like, "Black lines on my road/leave me to wonder."

It's a good concept, and already quite strong.  The above are suggestions only.
feedback award Non-practicing atheist
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Messages In This Thread
Storied Lines(prev untitled) edit - by brynmawr1 - 05-25-2022, 04:06 AM
RE: untitled - by Mark A Becker - 05-25-2022, 05:59 AM
RE: untitled - by brynmawr1 - 05-25-2022, 10:24 AM
RE: untitled - by TranquillityBase - 05-25-2022, 08:57 AM
RE: Storied Lines(prev untitled) - by dukealien - 05-28-2022, 04:43 AM
RE: Storied Lines(prev untitled) - by brynmawr1 - 05-28-2022, 09:28 AM
RE: Storied Lines(prev untitled) edit - by Miley - 06-05-2022, 04:10 PM



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