Soothsayer

Hey! Cello here!

I rarely review without editing but-

This was amazing. There isn't anything to edit.

I know, I know, reviews like this aren't helpful, I'm just saying 'yup, that was good' and not helping you to improve, but allow me to tall you why it was good, so in future works you can keep the simple beauty you displayed here.


Formatting!

When reading short poems, I hate having them all to the right side of the screen or paper. I also hate the zig-zag of a 'centered' work. This was really nice though. The words were in the middle, attracting attention, but still lined up very nicely.

Vocabulary!

Nothing felt forced, all the words were well used and comfortably spoken. A lot of poets go out of their way to try to sound extra professional but instead ruin the feel of their poem. You used vocabulary that you were comfortable with and still made a terrific poem out out of it.

Length!

You kept it short but still managed a lot of content into it. Really, the poem was just one sentence, but the way you said everything made it interesting to read and enjoyable to process. (Not the word I'm looking for but...)

Lines!
Lines, stanzas, sections, whatever. The way you broke up the poem was perfect. You had the reader pausing for slight moments in just the right places and without any punctuation too!

If you keep these aspects in any works similar to this one, their sure to be good.

Keep up the terrific work!
-ChocolateCello

Hi there Chekwube!

Newbie Reviewer, Pardon me for clumsiness.

Its a very rare skill to be able to convey a message in such short words. I love the way you have skipped all the punctuation, it makes the poem look beautiful and appealing to the reader. Seems pretty much simple but actually means a lot.
Although I am also confused by the word "ashes". But to wrap it up, a very good short poem. Smooth, Short and Simple. Loved it.

Keep up the good work!!!

Happy Writing!

Ciao!

Hey Chekwube!

You have a nice short poem here, and I'm really happy to be having a look at a short poem! I think there's a particular kind of skill in being able to articulate your concept in such a limited space without damaging your idea, message or language.

I like the lack of punctuation in this. Which isn't something I usually say, let me tell you. Your lines flow perfectly and I'm very into how they shift back and forth like a wave. I would go as far as to question why you've decided to capitalise the first word? It seems unnecessary when you've decided not to use any other punctuation. It won't hurt to lose it or to keep it in the end, it's just a small comment.

The problem I have with this, or the question that is most prominent when I read the poem, is the "ashes". I'm a cricket fan, and my first assumption was that you were referring to the most excellent cricket match, The Ashes. That's pretty clearly not what you're talking about here, and I think my next assumption is that you mean literal ashes of something burnt, but then there is a slight grammar question of "at" ashes, which indicates that ashes is a place and not an item. I'm not sure what you're going with here. I like thinking of it almost as though this man is standing at the place where the Buddhist monk set himself on fire in protest. As though your soothsayer is standing somewhere marked and significant.

That is genuinely the only issue I have with your poem. I love what you're saying and how you've said it. Short poems are excellent. Thanks so much for posting this. If you have an answer to my question about ashes, or you change the poem at all, please let me know!

Keep writing!
- Penguin.