r/OCPoetry•
slothXL

Unfinished

Feedback Received!

I stare from the other side of the street.

It's still incomplete.

I stare at all the tools they left,

all the people who worked on it.

From the blueprint laid out by the first

to the last's whose paint peeled off.

I bet they all thought they could do it;

complete this monstrosity I call self.

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/7yq9v3/poets_fangirl/duyso62?utm_source=reddit-android

https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/comments/7znjdj/motheaten/duyrb2y?utm_source=reddit-android

Posted Mar 2, 2018, 7:45 AM UTC · edited

35
Smurphy98•

This is a really great concept and the twist is handled nicely. I feel like more could have been done with wordplay or imagery; it's a little visually bland. Creating that sense of place by fleshing out the building could make the twist even more impactful imo. I don't know if you were going for a kind of low-fi aesthetic, minimalism, maybe to reflect the depressing nature of things? If so, I don't know what purpose the opening rhyme serves; it's actually a little distracting, considering it's the only one.

But the emotionality is intact, and the whole thing is very powerful and nicely done.

2
slothXLOP•

I understand what you're saying. And to be honest the imagery fell short of what I had hoped. And the opening rhyme was kind of an accident. Thanks for the feedback!

2
Smurphy98•

No worries, good job. I would keep working on this one, I think it can be elevated from good to something really special.

2
Pythonidaer•

I kind of like where you're going with this piece. Is the poem Unfinished, or is the idea that your 'self' is unfinished? Even with ambiguity, I like that I can surmise as much. The first two lines made me wonder if this was going to be a rhyme poem, wondering if Line 4 would start with 'at' to be grammatically correct, but I'm not nitpicking. I like what you did with ending Line 5 with first and starting Line 6 with "to the last's". The paint peeled off I think I'm missing, so as others have said perhaps if you can tie in this metaphor -- if that's what it's designed to be -- to something you aim for it to be, like skin or something that the reader can understand more clearly, it would build on the spirit of the piece.

2
slothXLOP•

I really appreciate the feedback. I'm still working on this and your notes are very helpful.

1