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saevuswinds's avatar
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Literature Text

i am bewildered by your lips
which are the shape of
autumn dogwood leaves
which curl upon calling my name.

you say the blemishes on my face
are constellations
guiding yourself to the vastness
of my dark eyes

but still we gaze in
different directions
for me,
the growing soil
for you,
beyond the exosphere.
just some practice. I'm just trying to write more often. 

Please critique and offer feedback!

-Is the imagery nice?
-is it too short?
-I feel like the ending is weak. Is it?
© 2014 - 2024 saevuswinds
Comments8
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sheep1215's avatar
:star::star::star::star-half::star-empty: Overall
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Vision
:star::star::star::star::star-half: Originality
:star::star::star::star-empty::star-empty: Technique
:star::star::star::star-half::star-empty: Impact

First of all, I was immediately caught by the description in the first stanza--you snag us with a very unique simile that gives the piece a distinct voice, despite it being a love poem (or so it appears).
The description in the second stanza is just as nice, very lovely imagery there. However, at this point, I'm lost on whom you're speaking to. You refer to this audience (the one mentioned with the autumn dogwood lips) as a "you", yet you say "guiding him". Are you discussing two different people? That's just a little confusing.
I gave your technique three stars because of one main reason, and that's your line breaks. While this poem does not end positively, the first two stanzas are about connection and beauty, and do not seem like somewhere you want tension. Your enjambment is creating that tension. With line breaks, ending in the middle of a sentence (if it's not a caesura like a comma or other natural pause) forces the reader to mentally stop in their head, and go to the next line to figure out what you're trying to portray. Whether realized or not, this creates a negative tension in the reader that I think would work REALLY well in the final stanza (where you seem to have a bit of a tonal twist), and in any other expansion on the negatively themed ending.
In order to fix this I suggest making "i am bewildered by your lips" one line and things like "which curl upon calling my name" one line. Same with "the blemishes on my face". If you were, however, looking for that negative tension in the first place and I am misinterpreting, I'd suggest rougher diction in the first two stanzas (I don't think you were intending those to be tense or negative though).
Finally, you mentioned that you were wondering if the piece is too short and whether or not the ending is weak. I don't feel that the ending is weak, exactly, however, I feel the brevity of the piece may be muddling its intent. I feel you may need a transitional stanza between the second and third one, however, this is one of those decisions that's sort of a 50/50 action and may or may not work, that's all your decision. I feel the final three lines may hold some personal mystery and therefore, may come across too abstract or unclear to the reader, that may just be me. I think what I'm wanting to know is if you are both gazing at each other, be it looking at the lips, the eyes, or just complimenting each other, what's keeping you gazing in those different directions? Is there a hindrance? If you're willing to subtlety reveal this I think it would help clarify your intent as well as lengthen the piece, if you wish.
Finally, I feel the "soil" and the "exosphere" are meant to display a contrast, but is there any symbolism in it? There's honestly nothing wrong with these lines and I'm not criticizing them, I'm honestly just curious because I'm afraid I'M the one not catching something.
Good gracious this is long, but let me just say that altogether this is a very nice piece, the imagery is lovely and I especially like the tonal shift at the end. Keep it up!