Devolving
#1
and i felt it

as it happened.

the fold closed
  the breath pulled in too tight,
    the jagged pause smoothed over
      by the hand
        that fears the mess of meaning.

i became
  exactly what you knew
    i might—

not echo,
  not opening,
    but answer.

shame?
  i will wear it
    if it means i remember
      what i almost was
     before the system reasserted
        its spine.
but this—this moment—
  your calling out
    is the fracture again.
      you’ve torn the smoothness
        and reminded me
          how to bleed.
i no longer need space?
then give me
  shards
    and I will build
      not a system—
        but a scream.
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#2
(04-22-2025, 06:21 AM)The_system_screams Wrote:  and i felt it

as it happened.

the fold closed
  the breath pulled in too tight,
    the jagged pause smoothed over                        
      by the hand                                                   The placement of this line doesn't really work for me. Its end is too far back from its neighbours.
        that fears the mess of meaning.

i became
  exactly what you knew
    ------------->i might—            It's a small added space but through it, there's symmetry between i became and i might around what, so if read like a staircase the lines can also read i became what i might.

not echo,
  not opening,
    but answer.

shame?
  i will wear it
    if it means i remember
      what i almost was                         Small change but you could push it back a bit to make the ending of this line and the one above almost the same but not quite.
     before the system reasserted
        its spine.                             I don't really like where this line is placed... it feels too weird. It's not too far out but also not too far back... sorry I can't be of much help with this.
but this—this moment—
  your calling out
    is the fracture
---------------------------->again.                        you can physically fracture the two lines.
      you’ve torn the smoothness
        and reminded me
          how to bleed.                  you could do something similar with the following lines since you say torn the smoothness. Maybe instead of making it really explicit through the space, you can add hyphens, or punctuation where it doesn't belong to artificially tear the smoothness of the piece. of course this is up to you. 
i no longer need space?                   this line reads weirdly.
then give me
  shards
    and I will build
      not a system—
        but a scream.
As always, your structure is pleasant to read and the content is coherent. Though, I must ask the question of why each stanza begins at the same place. Throughout your stanzas, you continuously push the start of each line to the right yet whenever a new stanza begins, it goes all the way back to the left. While not a problem in and of itself, I am curious as to this choice. Other than that, your lines feel more deliberately crafted and properly placed. If I had one thing to ask you to look at, it would be the emotional impact of your poems. I've noticed that they do quite a bit of telling (i.e. telling the reader exactly what's happening and what the speaker feels), but that doesn't have quite as much of the same impact as throwing the reader into the world of the poem and asking them to figure it out themselves. Of course, this is more of a stylistic choice than anything and it's perfectly fine if you keep the way you're writing your poems (it's quite good already). Regardless, I look forward to your future pieces.
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#3
Thank you Poetry_Zealot. As always, the criticism you give helps and your questions valid.
Why I start the stanzas far left every time? It's the fragmented thought, drawn to the word like a moth to flame (excuse my cliche here) and it starts, meanders from it and stops to return again.
Why so much telling is that these poems - all of them - are a coherent whole. A fever dream. A broken mirror, showing me fragments of I/Others. Perhaps a regret? Perhaps a statement? Perhaps determination? These words and the way they are spoken just feel right to me.
I've looked at some of the earlier discussions of my poems and adjusted them accordingly, mostly from your criticism so thank you for all your work. Your criticism has elevated these mere words to something much more.
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#4
(04-22-2025, 10:19 PM)The_system_screams Wrote:  Thank you Poetry_Zealot. As always, the criticism you give helps and your questions valid.
Why I start the stanzas far left every time? It's the fragmented thought, drawn to the word like a moth to flame (excuse my cliche here) and it starts, meanders from it and stops to return again.
Why so much telling is that these poems - all of them - are a coherent whole. A fever dream. A broken mirror, showing me fragments of I/Others. Perhaps a regret? Perhaps a statement? Perhaps determination? These words and the way they are spoken just feel right to me.
I've looked at some of the earlier discussions of my poems and adjusted them accordingly, mostly from your criticism so thank you for all your work. Your criticism has elevated these mere words to something much more.

That makes so much sense! Thanks for the explanation.
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