dark tentacles of stickiness reach out from the shelves, snot and spit wiped by demon hands as they run from one end to the other, all the way from
E
ALL
to
E
ZHO
shrieks fill the air, the shrieks of tiny imps wreaking havoc on the books, little fingers grabbing and stealing and taking
E
JOH
and placing it beside
E
YOL
right
where
it
doesn't
belong
a lone warrior fights their way through the shelves, a stack of books in their arms, taking trembling steps down the stacks until they reach
E
ARABIC
ALL
and shakily
put one book on the shelf
then another
and another
and stop
because they just found
J
GERMAN
PUL
and it
doesn't
belong
bravely, they begin their fight
one book after the other comes off the shelf
one
after
the
other
until they have a stack of books beside them, ranging from
J
FRENCH
STI
to
J
UKRANIAN
457.78
IMP
and they've made the ARABIC section right again
every book there belongs
and they leave the world language section
retreating to
J
ABE
and they continue placing their books
vision blurs with barely contained fear and rage as they note that
J
STI
is sitting right next to
J
BRO
it
doesn't
belong
shaky breath, take the book, put it in its place, it'll be alright
They finish their stack of books and take another
shaky steps, down the stacks, shelve the books
place
J
KOR
right next to
J
KOS
right
where
it
belongs
and take the ones out of place, feel them burn like hellfire, put them where they belong
tears blur their vision now
why is
237.90778
PUL
here
that isn't even a children's book
it
doesn't
belong
put it on the truck and move on
and don't look at the dark void of children's nonfiction
your sanity won't survive
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125,005 Literary Works • 672,805 Reviews
hiya :3 here for a short review:
first off, i think the concept for this is pretty cool. the idea of turning something completely mundane and everyday into something basically horrific is always enjoyable ;]. it really reminds me of the libraries in welcome to nightvale, where the librarians are some eldritch creatures and the kids trapped in the library have to complete holiday reading programs and collect reading stickers to fight their way out. (or something like that, it's been a long time since i last thought about that podcast :''''')
nostalgia aside, i liked how choppy the lines were since they were consistently broken up, creating this sort of staccato?? effect that made every line halting and increased that sense of stress. however i think this backfired a little in the sense that i felt that the tension level was consistently high, rather than built-up over time which i feel might've made the poem more effective, like the slow revelation of a monster in the library as if in a horror movie.
i think the lines really convey the speaker's personality & frustration well, especially with the italics, and it's a sort of speaker i don't really feel like i see in poetry much. overall i liked how you showed the shelver's methodical nature and need for things to be placed 'right'.
[hi. i wrote like another hundred words of this review before realising that i completely misinterpreted your poem. i have included the hundred words below anyway but do note that this would be directed to a poem that is going out of its way to be scary. going to go mourn over the time i wasted due to my own stupidity.]
the poem immediately starts off with:
which in my opinion kind of makes the entire poem less scary? i know it's a kinda joke-y poem given the ridiculousness of the situation (unless i'm reading it wrong, in which case i'm sorry but also confused) but when the monster is kind of already revealed right off the bat, the horror of the entire poem is somewhat dampened when we already know what the monster looks like. i feel that if we're shown rather than told (i.e. shown more subtly the effects of the monster on the child(ren's) mind rather than immediately told that there are tentacles and demon hands and imps) the poem becomes more impactful & suspenseful.
Hey there! It's Sofie here with a review:)
LOL this poem...as someone who has worked around school kids I felt this DEEPLY lol. And I've spent a lot of time at my local library and know the children's section very well...you totally capture it here in this poem.
I love the use of repetition on the phrase "It doesn't belong". It really serves to drive home the narrator's frustration.
I also really liked this line below:
"Shaky breath, take the book, put it in its place, it'll be alright."
This line shows that, although this job may seem mundane...it's still freaking STRESSFUL in it's own right, lol. It requires and inhuman amount of patience and mental endurance and those who do this job, or similar jobs, should be given just as much patience.
Great poem! It not only made me smile, but think as well
Sofia
Hi Aceassin! I wanted to stop by with a slightly longer review for this poem of melodrama!
I was one of those kids who volunteered at the library, shelving books, in middle school, so I can absolutely relate to the narrator of this poem. I swear the organizing system in the children's section of the library right after a group of kids have left is chaotical, not alphabetical. I think you depicted that in a way so that anyone can empathize and understand what the narrator's going through, regardless of whether they're the "snotty kids" or the distraught shelver.
So for interpretation, this has the quite obvious literal interpretation of someone shelving books at the library and being driven insane, to an extent, by the disorder they find there. There is some pretty intense imagery of demons, imps, warriors, hellfire, but these are all clearly just dramatic descriptions of the books and characters in question in the poem.
If we wanted to look at it slightly less literally though, I think this could easily be interpreted as a metaphor for someone dealing with extreme perfectionism, an inability to give up control, or even some kind of anxiety disorder. I especially get that kind of interpretation from the lines that are variations of "it / doesn't / belong". That phrase, the way it's repeated, and the use of italics convey this strong desire of the narrator to be in control. They want to be in control of where the books are going, and the fact that the books have been put in the wrong place by other people is making the narrator very uncomfortable (that may, in fact, be an understatement). Also the lines where the narrator is described as shaking, trembling, having blurred vision, are all sensations that are associated with anxiety; and the line where the narrator is trying to comfort themself, "shaky breath, take the book, put it in its place, it'll be alright", reminds me a bit of a grounding technique.
In terms of more specific details of the poem, I really like how at the start you make use of some very long lines. They have an almost prose-y vibe, especially the first 3 that start "dark tentacles", "shrieks fill the air", and "a lone warrior fights", respectively. I think that's a neat reflection of the theme, since the poem is literally about shelving books at the library. I almost wish you would carry that style a bit more into the poem, because after that you pretty much use "regular" length lines for the rest. And I think having longer lines in contrast with the short, one- or two-word lines would have a super cool effect.
I love how you include specific "book spines", like
that kind of detail just adds a level of ~oomph~ to the poem that I can't quite describe. I do feel like it's a bit of a lost opportunity though that these aren't spelling out a sub-message in the poem? like if you strung together "ALL ZHO JOH YOL ARABIC" etc., it doesn't form any message right now. This may just be a me thing (I'm obsessed with hidden messages in poems), and it's by no means necessary, but it would be cool beyond words if they did spell out some kind of sentence that drove home the point of the poem, or added another layer of meaning or some kind of plot twist. Just something to consider if that sounds cool to you as well and you want to revise the poem sometime!
Lastly, I like the perspective you chose to use in the poem. The use of "they/them" pronouns, and the way in which you describe the narrator, makes me feel like I'm watching this whole thing happen from afar, like I'm watching a video or something and I'm not even sure who this person is or anything; I'm just watching a scene with them in it. And then the way you switch abruptly into addressing the reader as "you" in the last three lines suddenly pulls me directly into the poem in a way that I wasn't expecting! I absolutely loved that.
Overall, this was a super interesting poem and I loved loved reading and reviewing it for you. Let me know if there's anything you'd like me to elaborate on or if you have any questions!
Keep up the great writing,
Seirre
oh my god I totally should've had the book spines spell out a secret message I missed such a good opportunityyyyyyyy ;-;
thank you for the review!!
Hello! Wallflower here with a quick review
I actually loved how you made something as commonplace as a children's section in the library sound like genuine horror. It's almost funny because it's so unexpected, but at the same time I could really get into the poem and feel the terror of the children. As someone who is also frightened of children, this was very relatable. Also, your imagery and horror writing is fantastic, adn the mixture between confoundment at their messiness and grotesque children's habits was fantastic!
Great job! Keep writing
I don’t know if you’re a librarian or if you like putting books in their places,but boy,this sounds stressful! Children running around and touching things with their gross snot,unruly and undisciplined children,can drive a person past their breaking point.Great poem,I could feel the tension build.Good luck with the kids.I hope you have a relaxed and beautiful day and night.