First Edit: First Kiss
#2
Hey Rose,
I like the story in this poem. I do have some suggestions though:

(10-14-2017, 09:44 AM)rose Wrote:  First Kiss -When I first saw this title, I was expected a sappy love poem. I was very happy to be wrong about that.

I lay on him -This line is functional, but I wonder if you could start with something that better grabs the reader's attention.
Skin presses against skin -This made me think they were naked, but the rest of the poem makes me think otherwise.
The stereotypical girl -I like this image and wonder if there is a way you could start the poem with it.
That I never imagined to be -Others might disagree, but you don't need to capitalize the start of every line.


I wrap my arms around his smooth back -I would suggest rephrasing "I wrap my arms around". It's too conversational.
And love the feel of human contact
Of two interwoven bodies -I like these two lines. "Of two interwoven bodies" has a wonderful sound to it.


Yet as I try to mimic his unconscious shudders
I know that I will be found out -This stanza is so depressing, but so true. I like how this poem explores the speaker's self-doubts and doubts about love.


Do you want to do it he asks -The question is so blunt, but that is the point.
Pausing to raise himself up
I have condoms -Again, very blunt, but there is a raw honesty here that I think really works.


No I’m good I respond -I feel like this answer is a bit underwhelming. I've used this expression myself when I didn't want something, so I get what you're going for here. I just wonder if the speaker's response could be worded differently, so it has more bite to it.
and stretch out an arm
To try to draw him back down -I would suggest cutting the last two lines of this stanza. I think the speaker's response is the most important part of this stanza.


Are you sure he repeats -This starts the desperation that defines this stanza.
Yes I am sure
With an agonized brow
and a slightly embarrassed smile -I like this description of the boyfriend. The mixture of agony and embarrassment is appropriate.
He asks
Would you
do it for me? -I love how he then asks this question. This questions seems almost innocent on the surface, but then when you think about it, it's so awful. I also like breaking it into two lines because it separates the "you" from the "me", which I think is thematically important.


Another time I respond -I wonder if this should be broken into its own stanza. It does deserve some emphasis because it is important to the poem.
And he finally lowers himself to kiss me -I would suggest removing the "and" from this line. I like how "lowers himself" could have a double meaning.
But his lips are thin and slimy -I feel bad for the speaker because there is such a reversal of fortunes for her from the start to the end of this poem. 
And I pretend not to care -I love this last line. I think it has a double meaning. She could be pretending not to care so she can just get through this terrible situation, or she could be pretending not to care because she is just desperate for human contact. Nice ending.
Overall, I think you have a nice first draft, and I look forward to seeing where you take this from here. One last thing, I noticed there was no punctuation here, but there was capitalization. My suggestion would be to go all in on one approach, so either drop and capital letters and leave the punctuation out, or keep the caps and add in some punctuation. I  hope some of what I said was helpful.

Cheers,
Richard
Time is the best editor.
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Messages In This Thread
First Edit: First Kiss - by rose - 10-14-2017, 09:44 AM
RE: First Kiss - by Richard - 10-14-2017, 12:03 PM
RE: First Kiss - by Todd - 10-14-2017, 02:09 PM
RE: First Kiss - by Knot - 10-14-2017, 10:36 PM
RE: First Kiss - by RiverNotch - 10-15-2017, 02:47 PM
RE: First Edit: First Kiss - by Quixilated - 10-16-2017, 03:42 AM
RE: First Edit: First Kiss - by Knot - 10-16-2017, 10:39 PM



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