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by Lumi


Deleted at author's request.


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Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:40 am
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alliyah wrote a review...



I am here! Finally!

So enough chatter, on to the review.


Some Wording Thoughts
Just going to go stanza by stanza and sort of point out what I see - sorry that this is quite nit-picky.

For some reason in those first two lines I get really tripped up on the word "supermassive" - it takes almost too many brain steps to figure out what that line is saying. First okay "super massive", then oh, it's contradictory with the preceding word "condense", then oh, actually the memories are condensed in a way that's packed in or thick so it's not a contradiction. I'd take out the "super" and just let the alliteration and the single adjective do its work. Rather than get quirky points for pushing two words together.

The following line I love though - which footsteps brought us here/ which were just pretending. The flow of logic there, how it says something, then almost contradicts itself and takes a turn is really elegant and keeps the reader on their toes. It's clever without being so convoluted that it can't be understood.

This is super minor - but I noticed you use a single dash/hyphen in first stanza, then a double dash later on and am not sure if this is intentional or not, but I think I'd keep it consistent unless there's a reason it's a single dash.

In the second stanza, I love where this poem is going with the imagery being a metaphor for the relationship. Where they've found gold but aren't quite sure if it's real or not yet.
I would maybe take out the repetition of the word "gold" for something different and I think the line "with value and symbolism" is a bit too redundant since before it's already stated that it's gold and is precious - let the reader make the necessary inferences rather than saying it again I think.

In stanza three, again I would watch the repetition of the words unless there's a specific reason; maybe "precious" could be replaced with a synonym. I love the line about a childhood chiding us -- great alliteration there and it's funny and relateable. However the language used to discuss superman as fat and short seems a bit too informal/casual for the poem. Also the rest of the piece is timeless - but the superman reference puts it in a particular time setting and place.

In your fourth stanza that's off to the side I like the image of the ukulele and swimming through songs - which brings in the stream example again, but the opening phrase could be stronger. I also can't imagine someone ever saying "that would be so nice and humbling" -- "nice" is a sort of plain conversational adjective, while "humbling" is more academic and a totally different tone. I'm also not getting the "humbling" emotion coming through the rest of the poem so it feels tossed in there, adding too many accessories rather than additional emotional layers.

The last stanza is pretty much magical. Gosh, those first four lines are beautiful. Love the repetition of turning in "the leaves turning over leaves turning over new trees. we". And the way you chopped the line so that "we" is on one line and then it moves to "were" is so perfect -- it's dramatic because suddenly as the reader gets to the height of this romantic image and the emphasis of "we" - boom. the reader notices it's in past-tense. Then you bring back that thread of continuity with the gold and the stream and the memories/stories parallel. Very nice. I think if I'd change anything here, it'd be to maybe use a little more "sound" descriptions or voice descriptions at the beginning so that the line "hear your voice in my chest" feels more connected, or so that the reader can guess how the person sounds, or what they might say.

I think the formatting in the last 2 italics lines isn't really necessary, and the double spacing between "stay, love, please." is a bit overly dramatic I think - it's almost like using all caps and bold and italics. You've already got the double punctuation emphasis with the commas, line breaks, and brackets (as well as the italics) so putting in the spaces ends up looking a bit odd on the page for me. But on the other-hand it is a dramatic line, so it just depends on how dramatic you want to push it.

Overall Message
The overall message of the poem seemed to be about a person reflecting on the good times they had with someone that they loved. And hoping that the memories they have of the good times, still linger on for that other person. They reflect on the warnings of the "gold" that could have been false, and how the streams of memories and stories and love run through their relationship narrative. At the end we learn that the speaker does think their love was genuine, and they still hold on to their lover, and beg (at least in their heart) for the lover to stay.

For me the main message doesn't really require the stanza with the superman and picture -- that stanza seemed the most disconnected because the imagery didn't quite connect into the other stanzas. I would try to make that one a bit more interlinked into the other ones or maybe mention the stream or water somehow in it.

Overall Thoughts
I enjoyed reading this poem quite a bit! It was a nice little journey through this person's mind reflecting on their relationship. You used creative little lines to generate really emotionally heavy images and phrases and the twists and turns in the phrasing kind of kept me guessing on whether the relationship would work out in the end of the poem or not, which kept the story interesting for me. I think the poem gives the right amount of detail about both characters too to make their relationship seem real, but it mostly focuses on the emotional impact of the whole thing and the questions that sort of linger through a relationship.

I noted a few places where I thought there was a bit too much repetition or an inconsistency in word choice - but overall the tone was wonderfully nostalgic and thoughtful. Your formatting sort of wove like a stream, but I think the poem would have been just as strong aligned left. ;)

A lot of great lines in here Lumi! And not a whole lot to criticize! I like how throughout the poem you took sort of familiar images and gave them a slight twist to heighten them or add a mixed up flavor. Like in the last stanza sitting at a stream - okay, pretty normal. And then "e sang to one another for centuries" -- woah, not normal - puts a twist on our understanding of the depth of the relationship and events.

Lovely piece Lumi!

Let me know if you have any questions about my review, I'm hoping it wasn't too scattered.

~alliyah




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Sun Feb 25, 2018 4:33 pm
Kanome wrote a review...



Hey, Kanome here with a review in honor of Review Day. Hooray! Let's get this out of the Green Room, shall we?
First, I must ask, what kind of formatting is this? It looks amazing. Is this like a new poetry format or something? I would love to know.
The words are beautifully flowed throughout the whole piece, I love the word usage and it's just simply.. ah- beautiful.
I don't see anything wrong with it in my opinion, so that's good, right? Haha.
Great job on this, amazing read. Can't wait to read more of your work.
Keep writing and have a wonderful day!

- Kanome




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Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:48 pm
Thisislegacy says...



LUUUUMMMMI where has this gone? It is on featured spotlight but there's nothing here, but from @Arcticus it must have been beautiful. Wish I could read it.




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Tue Feb 20, 2018 1:09 pm
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Arcticus wrote a review...



Hey Lumi! Here's a review, as requested.

Firstly, reviewing your work is not an easy job since you're easily one of the maestros (yep, not exaggerating) and to be frank enough, when a poem is too nice and evocative and when I like the ideas that it plays with, the images it conjures up and the stories it weaves in my mind, I find it incredibly hard to want to ruin that experience by putting it to the dissection that we call reviewing. However, since you asked, I'll try my best to put my thoughts on this to words. So, here we go!

Let's proceed sequentially, because I honestly don't know where to start and I haven't reviewed anything in an insanely long time.

i can only hope you remember these times, condensed


With that very first line you put the reader in a place where he can hear and feel the narrator reminiscing about something from his past. Totally not a bad way to begin a poem. Works. Sets the broad tone. Nice.

Moving forward, I feel like the use of the word supermassive drifts away from the mood and tone that the first line creates (maybe that's just me. But this is something I would definitely want to point out). It halts the poetic flow of the poem for me right at the very beginning. I would spend some more time in the lab with with that second line. Even the simple word 'heavy' can easily take the place of 'supermassive'. But hey, it's your poem, don't mind me!

Moving on, what you do with the footsteps thing is really swell. The idea that there have been these two 'kinds' of 'footsteps' in the journey and the experience that bonds the narrator with his loved one. I can say the same about the lines that follow, the way you present the two walking together on their shared journey as a treasure hunt is really starting to give the poem a concrete central theme. Your concept of the poem seems to be crystallizing at this point. They're together, both of them, and they're reminiscing about how they once went on a search for something precious, something symbolically valuable. Cool. I would not use the word 'symbolism' in the poem that way though.

this is a letter with drawings in the corners


It's really starting to get interesting now, that's some strong imagery there and that continues in the next few lines as we move on. What follows are some beautiful reflections on coming of age, and you really phrase it really tactfully when you write adulthood chides us for all its stock in our smiles. You touch upon the narrator's urge to feel innocent and experience childlike happiness once again. But I'm not sure how the part that follows (in the square brackets) relates to the previous one. I can imagine it making perfect sense to you as the writer of this poem. But your readers might need some conceptual forward and backward linkages here. But still, this part of the poem is pretty neat.

Now what follows is that part of the concerto when all the instruments in the orchestra come together and the conductor summons every separate melody into a single, rising crescendo, and I swear this is my favorite, most beautiful part of the poem. Practically every single line from here on till the poem fades out into the whisper of 'stay' is a bunch of gems. My favorites are.

we sang to one another for centuries,
the leaves turning over leaves turning over new trees


so love after love would sprout
in the purifying gold


The idea of love as a perpetual and unending resurrection of itself. That's supermassive. That's intense.

The ending sounds a bit too needy than you might have originally intended it to be. But nevertheless, it's a nice fadeout. Maybe remove the 'please' and replace it with another 'stay'?

and i say stay, stay love, please


Apologies for the nitpicking. I hate those myself. These are just some general suggestions you might want to consider, but do take them with a pinch of salt.

I hope this review helps.

Keep writing,
Arc.




Lumi says...


Yaaaaaaas. Your insights hit all my worrisome spots. Thank you so much for the review, man. I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. :)




Perfect kindness acts without thinking of kindness.
— Lao Tse