09-06-2024, 02:56 AM 
	
	
	(09-01-2024, 02:24 AM)Wjames Wrote: A low growl curls in mirrori like this! i think it could use some more intentional word choice to really get the images across in a punchy way, but the bones are good and i like where it is going. i think using the gym as the setting is a more rare choice in poetry that i enjoy.
at the discount gym.
The drawstring of your sweats
will not be untied, lacking proper form
has languished the loops
into clumps.
There is no banana in your smoothie.
The woman on the stair climber
might not be crying
about your lack of progress.
the way i see this stanza is that the narrator is interpreting everyone at the gym (the woman on the stair climber being one of them) as paying attention to their progress, and then reminding themselves that she is probably not paying attention. with that interpretation, i like it, tho the verb crying is still confusing to me.
Trembling in plank,
you don’t have the strength
to keep your body still.
The only destination is collapse.
really enjoy the collapse-as-destination
The floor is speckled black rubber
and you lie prone on a thin red mat.
You must shower.
Flip flops condom your feet,
but nothing protects your lungs
from black mold and assorted fungus.
A low growl curls.

 

 
