Lost in Wanderlust
#2
(06-22-2017, 07:27 AM)The Four-Eyed Cat Wrote:  Remind me of the sea that kisses the coast of Algiers,
Where the tides are soft and the winds all but fierce.  if "where" in l.4 is not capitalized, neither should "where" here be.
In that country past the strait of Gibraltar,
where the trip to Casablanca didn’t halt her.

Taking that plane past the eye of the Mediterranean Sea,
to the cheek of the Atlas Mountains in Jbel Ayachi.
Tell me again, what you called the world’s left brow,
I believe it was either Kiev, or the city of Moscow.

You journeyed on to the scarred eye of the Aral Sea,
where only sand was left to remind you of former glory.
Greeted eastward by the buildings of Ashgabat,
which had a shade of white quite akin to that Masqat.

There in Florence, where we visited the Sistine,
telling me you would soon be leaving for Argentine.
Abruptly you went from the Chilean hills of Santiago,
to the concrete spires of New York and Chicago.

Was it there that you heard an oriental song?  is "that" needed here?
A melody you chased all the way to Hong Kong?
Though I might’ve confused myself with Singapore.  nice double meaning - am I a writer, or a city-state?
I’m quite certain it was either that, or Kuala Lumpur.

Fondly I think of our first kiss in the vineyards of Roubaix,
reminiscing me how strongly I miss your warm embrace.
Making me hope that you’ll snap free of your peregrine,
for I will patiently wait for you at gates of Berlin.
In mild to moderate critique, a few techical thoughts, first.  Capitalization and punctuation could stand a bit of work, as noted above; due to the conversational or rap form (with end rhymes), these are not a serious detriment to the reader's enjoyment.

Two suggestions:  first,  maintain the conversational form and irregular meter but look at all common words with an eye to replacing them with others having greater impact or novelty.  For example, "to the concrete spires of New York and Chicago" could become "to concrete peaks of New York and Chicago" (pardon the rewrite) - eliminating "the," referring back to the Andes, and smoothing out the rhythm.

Second, the poem would gain (IMHO) from adjusting lines so the end-rhymes are always accented the same... for example, in Aral Sea/fromer glory the last words seem almost not to rhyme because "former glory" is so emphatically /./. - two trochees.  Perhaps the second line could end in a word like "ecstasy?"

And a nitpick:  the Sistine is in Rome (strictly, Vatican City), not Florence.  Or is this meant to hint at growing confusion?

The project here is well set out, but could be made smoother without losing the originality.
feedback award Non-practicing atheist
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Messages In This Thread
Lost in Wanderlust - by The Four-Eyed Cat - 06-22-2017, 07:27 AM
RE: Lost in Wanderlust - by dukealien - 06-22-2017, 10:37 AM
RE: Lost in Wanderlust - by The Four-Eyed Cat - 06-22-2017, 09:27 PM
RE: Lost in Wanderlust - by Flowerchild1093 - 06-22-2017, 07:57 PM
RE: Lost in Wanderlust - by nibbed - 06-24-2017, 06:25 AM
RE: Lost in Wanderlust - by Keith - 06-24-2017, 11:10 PM
RE: Lost in Wanderlust - by CRNDLSM - 07-03-2017, 12:58 AM
RE: Lost in Wanderlust - by The Four-Eyed Cat - 07-03-2017, 01:44 AM



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