DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "On. On. Stop. Stop" by Saskia Hamilton Originally read: March 1, 2013 More information about the Poet: Saskia Hamilton The punctuation in the title foreshadows something in the poem, but taken by itself, the title seems too post modern.  A period after each word -- why should I pause after each word, and why is does the title have repetition of "on" and "stop"?  I think, at first, the title didn't make me hopeful.  The contents and technique in the poem though brought me in. The first sentence plays with the idea of the present and the past: "In the old recording of the birthday party, the voices of the living and the dead instruct twelve absent friends on the reliable luxury of gratitude" Past me wrote in the box to remind myself that "this poem is viewed in the now."  And at first, I wondered who are these dead people?  Why are some guests absent?  I think this is important to note about this ...

Original poem reprinted online here: " Tis Late" by April Bernard Originally read: February 28, 2013 More information about the Poet: April Bernard There's a lot of shift and spacing here -- and not visually alone.  The first "section" of the poem is a description of an individual which the speaker takes in and then the poem takes on the persona of the first person.  However, I feel the core of the poem comes in two parts -- kind of like a call and response technique, and I think both happen in the first person perspective part. Then why bring up the 3rd person part of the poem.  Well, let's look over it.  The description is a woman but one in the past and the "present.."  The present woman is selling carnations she stole from the graveyard with a god bless you, and this a rather interesting decision.  This foreshadows the question sincerity, and not in that pretentious way where some annoying blogger writes, "I think this is overly-sentimenta...