Sketches from the Last Months

Hello, Quentin.

I saw this earlier, but am now finally returning to review it.

First of all, I quite enjoyed this. When I screamed that I hated beatniks in chat, I was mostly referring to the prose of that era (I read On the Road and it put me off until I remembered that I've always liked poetry better anyway), and this style is quite lovely, both grounded in realistic images and meandering, finding a way towards its meaning slowly.

I
Mmm, delicious helplessness. The real kicker is at the end, in Nowhere, Nebraska. The sense of isolation is communicated well here. The only criticism I have is that I'm not quite sure why Izzy is in a towel to her thighs, though you might have been speaking about a real event, and it was something that stuck in your mind. Symbolically, though, I'm not really picking up what you're putting down with that.

II
Here we see that the kitchen is a main theme in this poem. In the first stanza, you mention Izzy doing dishes, in this section, you mention putting the cat back specifically in the kitchen, and in the last section, you mention making tea. While the kitchen is not mentioned explicitly in all three sections, there are activities that all have to do with the kitchen. As the kitchen is where food is prepared, and thus a place where life is given fuel, the narrator has a bit of an obsession with it because he feels his life is out of control.
The events in this section imply that the narrator is unsettled by something, as in the first section. In the first, it was more a discomfort with the world outside of Nowhere, Nebraska, and the lack of ability to do anything about it. In this section, everything is happening very closely to the narrator. The tearing out of the wall-- it isn't mentioned which wall is being torn down, which makes me think that it is the narrator's family's house, especially because it was the narrator's cat that escaped-- shows an upheaval in the narrator's life, perhaps a secret that has come out, since Mom and Amy were doing it, rather than the narrator of Izzy, who seems to be the narrator's partner. The cat escaping can be drawn back to the old saying "letting the cat out of the bag", though letting it out of the house (the house itself sometimes seen as a symbol for the self) would work for a euphemism for telling a secret, as well. So perhaps the narrator putting the cat back into the kitchen and hoping that he'll stay is symbolic of trying to ignore that the big secret has been found out.

Anyway.

III.
This is the most telling section. The narrator seems to be leaving, but something terrible (the storm) must happen before the narrator finally leaves. The tea serves as a kind of self calming mechanism, though I'm not sure exactly what that is, other than literal tea. Who knows? Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Throughout the poem, the lines are rather short, and I suppose this is all a matter of style, and it does convey a rather unsettling feeling through the way the text is written. If the subject matter was different, I would suggest that you lengthen the lines and make them more connected to each other. However, you seem to know what you're doing, so carry on.

I hope this... well, it wasn't so much of a review as an analysis-- I hope this analysis proves useful to you! Happy poeting!

What I enjoyed most about this work was the realism applied to it. It is a snapshot inside the life of a man on the verge of change. The strengths in this poem lie in the subtleties, I feel. The unconventional poem style really adds to the idea that this is merely a small window into the potentially complex and emotionally taxing life you may live. Your seemingly inconspicuous observations throughout the poem add to the anecdotal feel that is given throughout the poem. It feels on the verge of stream of consciousness, which again fits the idea of something that is based on observation. The hints at your emotion are subtly implied, rather than explicitly told to us. Overall, I found it to be an enjoyable read.

I really like this poem. It is unusual but has a nice rhythm to it, and I love your sparing but effective use of language, as it conjures up some fantastic imagery while your reading it. The little details also give it a realistic and personal touch which is strangely endearing. Very well done; keep up the good work.