W303 Poem Critiques

NEW CRITIQUES (9/26/20) By Mariah Abby, Cicada Bloom There are a lot of really good things going on here. The title captures this image of cicadas swarming almost in a painterly sort of way. I’m not sure that’s what it’s meant to bring to mind, but it’s an excellent title nevertheless. I may be wrong, but I interpret the poem as expressing the way you (or at least the persona) love someone very deeply. There are all these little things mentioned about them that almost make them seem unpleasant: their dry, dead hair; the way they laughed at your aunt. But then the poem makes this beautiful turn describing how you’ve counted their every freckle, how you are their “sap suckler” (this is an amazing word-choice, btw) and can’t seem to get enough of them. To me, is the most well-done aspect of the poem is how you express deep love without becoming overly sappy. The only real critique I have is that the “taste like a plant of foreign origin” line pulled me out of the poem a little bit (I th...

POEM Critiques as of 9/19/2020 These are great!! Just sayin'. Kylie's Reviews   “Manatees” by Eva The use of figurative language and how it is so well married into the actual facts of the setting is very impressive. I also really love that the last line is taken from East of Eden , a seemingly unrelated story. I get the sense that there is an attempt to connect the manatees with the relationship the speaker has with Adam, through lines four and fifteen, but I am not sure what the connection is besides existing in the same place at the same time. While I really like line fifteen, the meaning of “my pinched-flippers” confuses things for me. I also really like that, while there is not a set rhyme scheme, there are some rhymes throughout that still gives the poem a nice irregular rhythm.   “I’m Sorry I Never Listened” by Sabrina I love the French quote in line four, which at first gives the poem a romantic feel that evolves into a sort of haunting feeling. Lines eleven...