How We Have Changed (Revision 1.2)
#15
(06-27-2016, 07:04 PM)RiverNotch Wrote:  
(06-22-2016, 07:30 AM)Todd Wrote:  Revision 1.2

I watch you sleeping,
nestled in the depression I avoided this poem like the plague once I got to this line, not because I knew it would be bad, but because I knew this would be emotional, and as I was reading this, I was riding a high I'd rather kept going. And I must say, there's a feeling of the cliched in these first two lines, but still, effective.
of the bed that my body left
huddling for a warmth I no longer feel. Construction of the sentence quite weird here. Who is nestled -- "my body left" says it's the watched, but then "huddling for a warmth I no longer feel" says it's the watcher. Here's my preferred: "I watch you sleeping, / nestled in the depression / of the bed that my body left / as it huddled for a warmth I did not feel."
Has this space between us always been If huddling is converted to past tense, possibly a better change would be "this" to "the", but that would be less close, wouldn't it? "I watch you sleeping, /[the two of us[?]] nestled in the depression / in the bed that my body leaves / as it huddles for a warmth I do not feel."?
a part of me? The moon leachesĀ 
light from my skin like smoke
rising from a fire; I settle I like 'and'. Adds fluidity, plus echoes L14.
into the darkness of our small room.
The sallow light rests on you,
holds you motionless,
immutable in amber. Possible weirdness: breaking off the parallelism makes the light itself immutable in amber. But meh, that's a silly nit.
The slats of the blinds rattle
in the night breeze, and their shadows
cover you in bars. I feel the hair
on my arms bristle at the captivity. I prefer "the hairs of my arm", as it makes the line break more fluid.

The title also somewhat accentuates that "so-universal-it-might-be-cliched" feeling I got with those first two lines, which is why I'd rather see it changed, though I have no suggestions. Otherwise, really good, in the quietest, really loveliest, way --- reminds me a lot of winter, of moonlight, of smoky nights and Bjork's Vespertine, but ultimately much older, or perhaps simply more detached --- it's almost like something from Louise Gluck's Descending Figure, only almost in that it feels to me particularly masculine.
Hey RiverNotch, I appreciate all the comments and feedback. I'd already set this one down for a bit (probably 3-6 months to acquire some distance), so I will add your comments to the file I'm working from and readdress them then. Thank you again for the time you spent.

Much Appreciated,

Todd
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson
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Messages In This Thread
How We Have Changed (Revision 1.2) - by Todd - 06-22-2016, 07:30 AM
RE: How We Have Changed - by Lizzie - 06-22-2016, 01:23 PM
RE: How We Have Changed - by Achebe - 06-22-2016, 08:44 PM
RE: How We Have Changed - by kolemath - 06-22-2016, 10:30 PM
RE: How We Have Changed - by Todd - 06-23-2016, 12:44 AM
RE: How We Have Changed (Revision 1) - by Todd - 06-23-2016, 09:35 AM
RE: How We Have Changed (Revision 1.1) - by Todd - 06-23-2016, 11:46 AM
RE: How We Have Changed (Revision 1) - by Lizzie - 06-23-2016, 12:18 PM
RE: How We Have Changed (Revision 1.1) - by Todd - 06-23-2016, 10:33 PM
RE: How We Have Changed (Revision 1.1) - by Todd - 06-24-2016, 11:26 PM
RE: How We Have Changed (Revision 1.2) - by Todd - 07-06-2016, 06:08 AM
RE: How We Have Changed (Revision 1.2) - by Todd - 07-06-2016, 06:09 AM



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