Her Life As A Poem

[Todd]

The conceit of the title makes this interesting to interpret and read through. Here are some comments for you.

She was big-boned,--I like the simple way of establishing the she of the poem.
yet her parts were delicate;--I'm not as much a fan of this line. I realize you want the contrast. It sort of reads like an abstract cold reading to me (FBI profiling: he likes to be alone but sometimes he enjoys a crowd). I realize it could just be me but if her life is a poem I want to be moved from moment to moment. I don't want a flat establishing line and then a description. I'd rather you moved more quickly into line 3 (which is really nice: I love each word of it prairie brome especially is so good).
a fine-spun sprouting of prairie brome
threaded through
moss and engine block.--This also provides a more visual contrast than line 2.

Her home was a pine and burlap shack--trying to imagine the burlap here. I'm picturing holes being patched by fabric. Sort of shake/makeshift tent. No issues with it.
for wayward cats.
From her tangled porch--Tangled makes this interesting. Makes me think of either shape or a sense of chaos and clutter or maybe plants growing through the boards.
she would discourse on the art of life.--I don't like discourse. I actually don't like art of life. This feels like a self-conscious line and a potential cut.
Poems grew in small pots--While I like this image. I don't like it for this poem. I don't like the title being her life as a poem and then have poems appear as seedlings. If you want it to be words, or dreams, or moonshine, or inspiration--great. Just not poems inside a poem conceit.
muddled with Ramen noodles and moth wings.

Her life often vacationed to a studio apartment--awkward phrasing for me and also seems to lose focus. I get it she shows different sides some more sophisticated. Is there another way to get here. Is there something in the shack that can point to this difference?
on the East bank of her right eye,
where she sought more windmills to charge.--I don't mind the allusion. I'd like to see you hit it at an angle and make it more uniquely yours while still holding the reference. Just a thought.
She wrote on the back of her mouth
with cigarette smoke.--I like these two lines quite a bit. Mostly I think for how transient it feels.
Her poems were the rain-filled footprints,
of Jack Kerouac.--Not a huge Kerouac fan but there are some things I like here. You get the On the Road thought that she drifts or travels. I love rain-filled footprints. I again don't like the poems reference.

She had letters before
and after her name;
a fame made legendary--Now we wonder it this is a particular person that might be well known.
by all the gaps and pauses--great line
she shrewdly refused to fill in.--and the ending is satisfying. You sort of move from expansive to clipped. Just an observation and it worked for me.

I'm not sure how helpful those comments will be but I hope they are to some extent.

Best,

Todd