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Critical Analysis #1
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YeshuJah Malikk
Member
since 2000-06-29
Posts 263


0 posted 2000-11-22 07:07 PM


her smile haunts my loins
and rockets through the portals
of my mind
everyday
her movements ache my joints
and chokes the air out of my lungs
every night
she sits atop the counter of my dreams
clad only in desire
every hour
I lick the very air she breathes
worship the places that she's been
and every minute
of this waking dream it seems
belongs to him because he is the first
and I am only second.



© Copyright 2000 YeshuJah Malikk - All Rights Reserved
Brad
Member Ascendant
since 1999-08-20
Posts 5705
Jejudo, South Korea
1 posted 2000-11-26 12:53 PM


Not enough to go on for a really satisfying read but tantalizing nevertheless. At least you're not afraid to shift it at the end, I think you can give us a lot more detail and turn this situation into something really interesting.

Just an opinion,
Brad

warmhrt
Senior Member
since 1999-12-18
Posts 1563

2 posted 2000-11-26 09:35 AM


Yesh,

Yet another one of your bold works...very well done, I think. You use very different phrasing from the usual poem on a subject such as this, and it meshes well...creating unusual imagery. Sad ending, though...but I suppose the poem itself would not have quite the same intensity if the ending was different. Nice work,

Kris

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human
stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." ~
Albert Einstein


YeshuJah Malikk
Member
since 2000-06-29
Posts 263

3 posted 2000-11-26 04:38 PM


Brad, thanks for the read.  I intentionally stayed away from details for fear of dooming this to the mundane.  You know as well as I do that poems of this sort have been done and at time overdone, making it hard to do with any freshness.  This is my take on it.


warmhrt, thank you for your kind comments.  Yes, I thought the ending should be this way for it to have any meaningful impact.  Thanks for reading and commenting.

Severn
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-07-17
Posts 7704

4 posted 2000-11-26 05:48 PM


I like this a lot.

Although Brad commends the shift at the end I feel it somehow detracts from the cohesion of the piece. On the flip side I understand what you mean by a fresh take.

'she sits atop the counter of my dreams
clad only in desire'

Clad only in desire speaks just a little with cliche to me, yet this line:

'I lick the very air she breathes' nicely outweighs that.

Basically, this works for me...and I enjoyed the flow.

K



YeshuJah Malikk
Member
since 2000-06-29
Posts 263

5 posted 2000-11-27 07:22 PM


Severn, thank you for your comments.  Perhaps I'll replace 'clad only in desire' with something else.. I dunno what.  
Not A Poet
Member Elite
since 1999-11-03
Posts 3885
Oklahoma, USA
6 posted 2000-11-28 03:45 PM


I don't know Yesh, I liked "clad only in desire." I also liked "I lick the very air she breathes" but wasn't too fond of "she sits atop the counter of my dreams" as it just seemed too much of a mental stretch. Like Kamla, I found the turn at the end a bit abrupt.

Keep up the good work.

Pete


Kevin Rose
Member
since 2000-11-20
Posts 64
Liverpool UK
7 posted 2000-11-28 04:13 PM


This has grown on me.

From the start I liked the twist at the end, it was the rest of the peom I was having problems getting my head around.

I very much like the countdown structure of the poem, going from day to minute, but why the "and" before "every minute" it seems to interrupt the pattern.  (I like patterns)

I also liked "clad only in desire".  One thing to be wary about I think is that the majority of critiques on this board are from people who have been reading this board on a daily basis for months.  There is nothing wrong with cliches as long as they are used sparingly.  I like to think from a point of view of what a general member of the public would think, and to me "clad only in desire" is not so common.  If anything it is a handle on which a reader can grasp the poem.

What do others think?

YeshuJah Malikk
Member
since 2000-06-29
Posts 263

8 posted 2000-11-28 07:43 PM


Pete, thanks for reading the poem. I was aiming to show presence with the use of counter, perhaps the word mix got nixed.  How about counter as in 'mileage counter on an odometer' since the dream is recurring.. maybe too far a stretch, what the heck?  Anyway, glad you thought it good enough for comment.  If the turn at the end comes across as abrupt, it is only so because I was concerned about painting the poem into the corner of the lengthy, boring, mundane, carrying on type that this kind of subject matter can descend into.  Perhaps, I'll re-think that part of the poem.


Kevin, thank you for coming back to comment. I agree with you concerning cliches.  However, when or when not to use them resides strictly in the realm of the subjective, and thus is a matter of personal opinion. I agree with you about the break in pattern in the last verses.. again, this is, perhaps I need to rid myself of this sometime tendency, an attempt to connect things up.  I'll think of a way to wrap it up... open to suggestions.

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