08-11-2017, 06:38 AM
Hello, fuzzyllama. I have a couple of comments for you.
I wouldn't automatically capitalize the beginning of every line. It's a custom that is fading from usefulness.
The punctuation is haphazard and spotty. I'm an all-in or all-out kinda girl when it comes to punctuation. Just be consistent.
Hope this helps some.
Lizzie
(08-02-2017, 01:31 PM)fuzzyllama1 Wrote: Edit One:Overall, I think it tells too much and doesn't show nearly as much as it could. For example, rather than say "regain your footing," how could you demonstrate that process with an image, metaphor, simile? (hint, "shoulders back and down" gives an image).
Intuition.
Find yourself, little one. No one will tell you how to do it -- You want to use your line breaks strategically to emphasize key words and create interesting enjambments. Ending on "it" is weak here both because it's a non-evocative word and because we don't actually know what "it" is. I'd change the position of the line break and clarify your argument so that you're not relying here on a pronoun that doesn't correlate to an actual noun.
Rise like troubled, angry waves -- like this
Precipitate down, soak cracks 'neath marks you've made. -- "precipitate" and "down" are redundant to my understanding, since rain falls down by nature. Why "'neath" instead of beneath/underneath? Usually these omissions are to satisfy the demands of meter, but I'm not detecting any regular meter in this piece.
Climb the roots, little one. Fibers stretch, pull, grasp -- Who/what do said fibers belong to? Who is the subject of this discussion?
Fill the prints, familiar and lonely
Regain your footing, shoulders back and down, smile and pretend. -- "regain your footing" is a cliche
Seek the trees, little one. Look to their leaves, learn from their trunks
Embrace, wrap their wrinkles
Solace awaits you here – halting your progress – benign and cushy. -- Why is the speaker encouraging the little one here to slow down and spend some time with the trees when everywhere else they're being admonished to push forward, embrace discomfort?
Is it too hard, little one? Everyone is tired, who are you to stop?
Collect yourself, pack up
A ship can move your body, a woman can move your soul. -- Good last line. Ties things up succinctly and lets the reader in on the specific topic being discussed.
I wouldn't automatically capitalize the beginning of every line. It's a custom that is fading from usefulness.
The punctuation is haphazard and spotty. I'm an all-in or all-out kinda girl when it comes to punctuation. Just be consistent.
Hope this helps some.
Lizzie

