My Favorite Part About (My Non-specified Hometown's) Boardwalk

Heya Horisun - it might not be autumn yet, but hey - here comes the crow, ready to leave a review on this amazing poem! Let's ignore that I left there that quick reminder for myself like a month ago. So yeah, I would say let's get down to business!

The seagulls screech like a banshee operetta,

There is this weird thing about my reviews that I always start with absolute beginning of work. Anyways, this one deserves it because oh wow, this really catches me right on spot. I love, love, love when writers or poets play with unique literary devices, and you that a lot in this poem! Which is awesome!

Your use of similes in this poem, in particular, works wonderfully. You don't use the classic similes - you create your own, which often don't perfectly describe what's happening, but they capture the narrator's voice perfectly and the reader is simply able to perfectly evoke the feeling you're describing. I know that probably doesn't make much sense, but in principle I'm just trying to say that the whole poem is full of small feelings that everyone can imagine. And that you have original, funny and apt descriptions, because let's be honest with ourselves, seagulls can sometimes scream extremely annoyingly.

On a break in my pit-stained uniform,
Just one person caught
In a roiling person swarm.

The feeling of being the only person who has stopped for a moment while there is chaos and a lot of people around you is, in my opinion, captured brilliantly here, because that's exactly how one feels in such moments: a bit like one single person in a swirl of people rolling from all sides.

I feel like in this poem you describe a side of beaches that we don't always see: many people have them fixed as peaceful places from aesthetic photographs in travel magazines, but I think you're describing much more real vacation destinations here.

The whole poem has such a strong imagination in my eyes - when I close my eyes, I can almost hear the squawking of seagulls, those dozens of conversations that merge into one noise, I can almost smell the sea and the popcorn and the ice cream. For some reason, I imagine the narrator as a single person sitting on a bench, watching the mass, sometimes looking up at the moon and other times catching glimpses of the person they like.

I like the way you describe it - you use a lot of opposites, a lot of things that contradict each other, but can coexist at the same time. Because that's how it is with real people - they are chaotic beings, a bit like a seaside promenade full of screaming seagulls and a lot of people.

Overall, this poem was more of a reading experience for me than a review material - something that I enjoyed reading immensely and then decided to try to formulate into sentences. Hopefully it has at least moved what I was trying to say a little.

Have a great rest of day/night/whatever is in your timezone and stay safe!

- Kay, your local (friendly?) cryptid crow

Hey Horisun, coming in with a review for this wonderful poem of yours.
First of all, let me say that I was very intrigued by this poem at first glance--especially as someone who lives in a beach town and uses this sort of imagery often! You described it magnificently and made a coastal native proud.

The seagulls screech like a banshee operetta,

I ADORE this opening line--it takes me right to the beach, but not in a way you would usually expect! A lot of the time, poems describe a beach as peaceful, but you’ve taken me to a place of chaos with one sentence. It sets the tone wonderfully. The following lines use a lot of this painful imagery, and paints a dark picture in my mind, which makes it all the more bright when the love interest comes in.

No one shouts at the storm for being human.
Nobody sane blames a gull for taking flight.

This comparison is so amazing--shows how frustrated the narrator is feeling, and brings in more of that dark storm metaphor. I really love how you sort of carry that through the poem and flesh it out, bringing in a different perspective and meaning towards the end.
The last stanza has to be my favorite of all--it describes the love interest in such an interesting way! You’ve used alliteration and metaphors here in a way that makes my brain go “Wow!”
Overall, I just adored every part of this poem.
I will say, in the last stanza you use a lot of contradictory statements--the love interest is “a balm” but also “stalwart” and “cantankerous”. In my mind, the poem is sort of juxtaposing the love interest with the chaotic crowd, and to use some of these normally-negative adjectives makes that message a little duller. However, this is just some food for thought, and not necessarily something that needs to be changed!
I just loved this poem, and I am so glad I read it! Can’t wait to read what you write next!!
<3, Meenal (theromanticchemist)