09-14-2017, 03:38 AM
Richard,
You have some good things going on here. Some comments.
Best,
Todd
You have some good things going on here. Some comments.
(09-13-2017, 12:50 PM)Richard Wrote: Alone TogetherI hope the comments will be helpful to you.
Sometimes I try to forget who I was,
try to ignore the voices in the wind,--This double I try to forget/I try to ignore is a little cumbersome. Perhaps cut line 1 and lead line 2 with Sometimes I try... That doesn't mean that you can't reverse the lines and go with an alternate lead like "I want to", or some such.
who laugh with their children,--wonderful specific choice.
each air molecule a smile.--I tend toward minimalism so this is a bit counter to my usual advice. This line reads a bit abruptly to me. Perhaps some image or adjective to play off of a smile. I like the content though. The air molecule point is interesting.
Sometimes I try not to look
when you’re sad,
your eyes a hard pond on a snowy day.--Nice visual image. Good way to express the sadness.
I used to pretend to be asleep--like the line break
while you cried.
His room so silent, so still,--death of a child is my take away.
pierced worse than sobbing.--This is workable but I think you should look for something more arresting, still restrained but with more bite to it.
Then one day, I saw a stranger’s face
watching me as I shaved.--This moment of self-revelation through the grief and detachment is well shown through the line break and build up.
One cut became two,--Strong. I like how this blends the physical act of shaving with the cutting off of the old self and relationships. It is both physical and emotional.
my temptation redder and redder until it drowned.--I like this. I take it to mean the temptation to cut oneself out of the situation, to escape. Again, great use of using the blood from a shaving cut to describe the epiphany and the cost.
It wouldn’t be fair to call this hell,--Possible line break option after fair. That could give the sense of both the fairness to the other grieving partner and then the line break snapping us back to the reality of someone lost in their own grief and assessment.
there’s no demons lurking,--Maybe simplify: no demons lurk (it would also give a parallel structure to the next line).
no pitch fork in the shadows.
There’s just two people, ruined by life. --You could cut there's. I think the end line is a good payoff.
Best,
Todd
The secret of poetry is cruelty.--Jon Anderson
