pillowcase walker

by cjscoot

Published April 1, 2013

E - Everyone

when the girl extracts the phone from her body

almost in disgust at her own actions but more in fear of the night

and the cool quiet clammy air of loneliness encircles her

and she flips off the light so the impending walls of the claustrophobic room

      can’t see her cry in vain

there will be no music.


late into the night her blue sheets will form waves around her

almost as if she is riding away from the island on her catastrophe-stained pillowcase

and she listens for those above her or beneath her who know her pain

and the bubble refuses to give way to her pressing hand because none

      have known or felt or seen her pain

and there can be no music.


there will be no songs for the girl who left the one who loved her

there will be no songs in the night as she rides away from the world of her own disaster

and though she travels further every moment from that island it feels somehow closer

and though she prays to her God that someone will portray how she feels

      so she can truly understand it herself

there is no answer.


now in the morning light she walks eternally on her pillowcase

even though the waves have subsided her walls still know her memories

and she didn’t want to leave him but the waves were calling to her

and every song she hears alienates herself more from her lover

      or the memory of who she wanted him to be

and there will never be a song for her.

Comments & reviews · 3
User avatar
niteowl
Review
niteowl wrote a review Review · May 26, 2013

Hi cjscoot! Niteowl here to tackle this this fine Review Day. I suppose it's appropriate with all the wave-related imagery in here since we're the Tsunami Tyrants.

Overall, I think you have some fantastic imagery and a lovely story, but the structure and word choice could be improved.

when the girl extracts the phone from her body


Er...what? This made me think she somehow stabbed herself with the phone, which makes no sense. Did she pull the phone out of a pocket? Throw it somewhere? I think this could make more sense as "pocket".

and the cool quiet clammy air of loneliness encircles her
and she flips off the light so the impending walls of the claustrophobic room
can’t see her cry in vain


This block shows that there's a lot of adjectives in this poem. I've been told that excess adjectives make it more confusing and less interesting for the reader and I can see that here. I'd go through and think about if every adjective/adverb adds to the piece. I might change this bit to

The quiet air of loneliness encircles her
and she flips off the light so the claustrophobic room
can’t see her cry in vain

To me, this is more compact and draws in the reader better.

The sentence structure here also bothered me. Each stanza is a sentence, but they run on and are connected by "ands" and it's pretty hard to follow and you'd be annoyed if sentences usually ran like this and there's little punctuation. I know poetry has less rules about this than prose, but generally I suggest punctuating normally unless there's a really good reason. Try going through and seeing if you can't start new sentences at the "ands". Your words will answer stand out more because "and" isn't too interesting, so people tune out "X and Y and Z and..."

now in the morning light she walks eternally on her pillowcase


I'd cut eternally, but otherwise I like this image.

and she didn’t want to leave him but the waves were calling to her


My favorite line. It says a lot in pretty simple terms.

Overall, there's great imagery here, but I think the structure and overuse of adjectives could be revised. Good job and keep writing! :)

User avatar
Jonathan
Review
Jonathan wrote a review Review · Apr 1, 2013

Hello I am here as you can probably guess for a review witch I really hope helps. :D

Not sure what you mean by

can't see her cry in vain
. :)

This is a very strange poetry book tip deal thing but I like it. :D

I think your grammar punctuation and spelling was pretty good. ;)

Good work keep writing. :D

Good luck and I hope you had a good Easter. :D

Nice job. :0

~Jon~ :D

User avatar
noelsugarcube
Review
noelsugarcube wrote a review Review · Apr 1, 2013

"when the girl extracts the phone from her body", that is a great way to start this. Though it makes me think shes' a robot or something. The word choice used paints a nice picture too =) (blue sheets will form waves around her). There's some phrases that don't make sense to me though such as, " catastrophe-stained pillowcase". I kind of mean to say, what does this have to do with her break up with her boyfriend? It just doesn't seem to fit the entirety of the piece. Over all, this piece was an interesting read, and i hope for more works by you. =)

cjscoot replied · Apr 1, 2013

I guess I could have replied like this...haha well again thanks for reading and I'm glad you enjoyed.



Edna began to feel like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque, impossible dream, to feel again the realities pressing into her soul.
— Kate Chopin, The Awakening