The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein:
#4
(06-25-2012, 12:48 PM)billy Wrote:  Alfred wears a WWII German greatcoat;
the three bullet holes in the back indistinguishable
from a dozen or more ragged round moth holes.
Its greatness all the greater for their hunger. At first I didn't care for this line... I thought the moth holes was a great image to leave off on. But as i read on it became clear you were foreshadowing alfred's hunger / bloodlust. So now I'm on the fence. Maybe this line could be spruced up because it's really the weakest of the stanza at the moment


Alfred killed frightened Germans for a living Period here? some of the punctuation in this stanza is inconsistent, but that's just a minor nit
he enjoyed gliding over them with his tank
it dulled the grating of his tracks on harsh earth;
only for a perceptible second or so, but he knew
he'd caught one or two of the slow scared bastards.
Underfoot was quagmire, men slipped and tripped,
in fear the grey-clads scrambled.

Alfred often liked to stop and better see them flee, I noticed that there's a kind of casual distance in the way its narrated (kind of like "See Spot Run"), a bit more like a documentary rather than a visceral account (although the details provided are indeed visceral). It makes for an interesting read
crawl, and try in vain to haul themselves up and over
steep walled ditches that gave little or no purchase.
Leather-gauntleted hands slipped on root and stone alike.
Waterlogged boot conceded failure to cold wet mud.
It was in these times he'd light one of his stubby cigars;
the same shape as his shells, he'd commandeered them
from a bloodied black dress-shirt pocket of the hierarchy.
Dead Waffen-SS officers had no taste; no need to smoke, except
in hell with all dead Jews sent Courtesy of Belsen's bakery.

Alfred tugged a mouthful of acrid smoke into his lungs nice transition from the ovens to this
and smiled a Jewish smile as he bagged himself a trophy.
He also took his eighth iron cross, this one for his dead wife.

Alfred liked to wear the skin of a dead German soldier. Maybe you can use something more powerful than "liked to" here, since you use it often throughout the poem? Just a minor nit. I like how you ended it.
PS. If you can, try your hand at giving some of the others a bit of feedback. If you already have, thanks, can you do some more?
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Messages In This Thread
The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by billy - 06-25-2012, 12:48 PM
RE: The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by tectak - 06-26-2012, 07:21 AM
RE: The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by billy - 06-26-2012, 08:24 AM
RE: The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by addy - 06-26-2012, 10:56 AM
RE: The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by Philatone - 06-26-2012, 11:59 AM
RE: The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by billy - 06-26-2012, 01:35 PM
RE: The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by penguin - 06-26-2012, 06:20 PM
RE: The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by tectak - 06-26-2012, 08:45 PM
RE: The Coat of Alfred Meyerstein: - by billy - 06-27-2012, 08:43 AM



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