DDCPoetry

Original poem reprinted online here: "Eviction Notice" by Dan Gerber Originally read: February 8, 2013 More information about the Poet: Dan Gerber Past me write down for the opening two lines  that they have a, "sing-songy quality and humorous."  So inspecting the first two lines again, "The spider from the rug / suddenly wondered where he was" not only has a sing-songy and humorous quality, but also a fable like quality.  In the first two lines we have a character who, through the description, has a heroic journey feel to him (ala Aeneas).  Not that the poem goes for the Aeneid allusion, more of a demonstration of character which is undercut in the next line, "if spiders ever do;" which brings the focus back onto the speaker interpreting the thoughts and actions which is further explored in the the following three lines, "the world went white, / then dark, / then bright/"  not how the focus is adjective visual imagery -- simple devic...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Flowers" by Linda Pastan Originally read: January 4, 2013 More information about the Poet:  Linda Pastan I write this at the end of the poem: "I'm glad that the poem was only titled 'Flowers -- anything added would probably bring too much sentimentality or, I, at least, would've thought of this poem as cliche on first glance." And well it can be seen as the cliche "write an observation about nature then relate it to the personal" poem -- which has been done even before from Romanticism to the Tang Dynasty Poets to the Neoromantics to poets like Mary Oliver, Gary Snyder, Maxine Kumin etc.  Nature and poetry.  Hand in hand. The poem does so little in terms of technique which is good because the focus directly shifts after a few lines of description/observation.  There's one rhetorical question, one similes, and one offbeat adjective/noun combination that catch my eye in this poem (yes there's one m...

Original poem reprinted online here: "Story from Another Inquisition" by Rachel Mennies Originally read: December 20, 2012 More information about the Poet: Rachel Mennies  "The end is good; however, I feel this poem is a bit cliche kind of like 'she's torturing herself with secrets' feel"  The poem itself isn't cliche, and has two interesting narrative depiction -- one of Deborah (current) and the one of the relative in Argentina. I'm more inclined to think the Deborah part of the poem is a bit more cliche especially from the transition between 1st and 2nd stanza "but harkens to a parted sea, / a mat of smoke and ocean / on the tongue."  Looking back, it's more of that the Deborah part is more general (images, ideas, generalization) while the Argentine relative has more specific detail (speaks Spanish to mailman, speaks polish to wife). Maybe it's the volta in the poem -- the transition back to Deborah where I feel the poem beco...