La Touriste

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"The cold will wake me up"

He says

Stumbling out of a bar whose name he can't pronounce

There's nothing quite like love in a tourist's eyes and the sigh in a

native's breath

Like those people who have weddings in the winter,

Like those people who want to travel the world

The tourist hopes as dreamers do,

His fantasy feeding a fire

That will keep him warm

Wherever he goes

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/6nvsb4/it_called_me_out_of_my_bed_at_4am/?st=j5bn1pnw&sh=4fa61d8c

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/6o01ob/coming_home/?st=j5bnemx5&sh=b8066ab7

Posted Jul 19, 2017, 11:38 PM UTC

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Spusk•

I got the feeling that the guy you wrote about here is trying to live life on the fly. I'm not sure how to properly word that. I know people who may approach life like this, not quite planning thing out. I think what you had to say is nice, but it wasn't concise enough. There is definitely some room to make it more brief and yet use some stronger word choice to make your message more pleasant and inspirational.

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BellaBanduck•

Hi! I really enjoyed this poem, particularly the first half paints the scene and creates a mood really quickly - I think the ideas of a bar whose name he can’t pronounce and the sigh in a natives breath are really effective. If I were editing it here are somethings I would play around with:
 

  1. I really like the line “Like those people who have weddings in the winter” it sounds really poetic and is quite visual, but I don’t know what it means - what aspect of these people are you alluding to? Could that be made clearer in the next line (e.g. are you saying people who have weddings in the winter are impatient, or unusual or what)
     
  2. I like the repetition of the “like those people who” and would definitely keep this in, but I would choose a different group of people for the second one as the poem is already about travelling/tourism and I’m unsure what this line adds. Instead I would maybe use it to clarify the line above, so if you’re saying they’re impatient then choose another group of people who are impatient.
     
  3. I think the last four lines are much less interesting than the rest of the poem, I like the idea of talking about warmth as a callback to the start of the poem, but it seems like you are drawing a conclusion and I think it would be more effective if you let readers draw their own. Instead you could describe how the person imagines and longs for the next place they will go, or describe them starting off on a journey again. I think it’s often more effective to show the reader and let them draw their own conclusion rather than telling them.
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