z

Young Writers Society


E - Everyone

Come Open

by Stringbean


Come Open


You said

that in the darkness

eyes open

to find light.


And you said

that the light

was there.


But I've seen them

in the darkness

with eyes blurred,

eyes blinded.


I've seen them

pass close

to the light.


Note: You are not logged in, but you can still leave a comment or review. Before it shows up, a moderator will need to approve your comment (this is only a safeguard against spambots). Leave your email if you would like to be notified when your message is approved.







Is this a review?


  

Comments



User avatar
311 Reviews


Points: 0
Reviews: 311

Donate
Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:28 am
View Likes
Riverlight wrote a review...



Hey there, Beany! Here's a tiny review for your tiny poem!

So, I think that this poem is about Natalia, Oma, or Onkle Peter. Why Onkle Peter? No idea! It doesn't even mention the you-know-whats!

I really like he repetition of "darkness" and light," but I'd like to see you expand upon them and increase the length.

Have a nice [Insert time of day here*]!!!

Love ya, Beany! <3




Stringbean says...


I actually could see it being about one of them lol.

Thanks, VP! Love you too! <3



User avatar
286 Reviews


Points: 625
Reviews: 286

Donate
Wed Aug 26, 2020 7:58 pm
silented1 says...



Continue this poem.




Stringbean says...


Could you add some explanation to that?



User avatar
455 Reviews


Points: 22098
Reviews: 455

Donate
Tue Aug 25, 2020 1:50 pm
View Likes
Hijinks wrote a review...



Hey Stringbean! I saw your lovely little poem in the green room so I thought I'd drop by for a review :)

I love how you're able to keep your poem so short and still get a lot of meaning through - as someone who has difficulty keeping things concise, I find that really impressive! Relatedly, my main critique is that in a poem that is so short, you want to make every single word count. So I'd recommend cutting out some of the repeated vocabulary - for example, you use "light" three times, and "darkness" twice. In the spoiler below I've put different synonyms you could consider, to keep things engaging and add some variety.

Spoiler! :
Light synonyms: brightness, glow, blaze, brilliance, glare, gleam

Darkness synonyms: gloom, shadow, murk, blackness


Another thing I'd like was if you specified who or what "them" is. What has the narrator seen in the dark? Shadows? monsters? fears? treasures? friends? enemies? the sun? Right now I'm not sure whether I should feel sorry for the narrator or be happy for them, so I think some more specifity could help strengthen the poem in that regard.

I definitely agree with @silverquill12 that the flow in this poem is beautiful. It's a lovely balance between choppy and smooth, if that makes any sense at all, and it makes it really enjoyable to read the poem aloud.

I also like the subtle alliteration you have in the lines
with eyes blurred,

eyes blinded.

as it sort of adds to the rhythm of the poem.

Overall, really well done for such a short piece of writing! My main two suggestions are 1) cutting down on repeated vocabulary and 2) seeing if you can add more specificity about "them". I hope you find this review useful and if you've got any questions feel free to ask!

Keep writing!

whatchamacallit




Stringbean says...


Thank you! I'll definitely consider those two points when I revise again c:



User avatar
672 Reviews


Points: 81482
Reviews: 672

Donate
Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:00 pm
View Likes
Plume wrote a review...



Hey! Silverquill here, with a review!

I quite enjoyed this poem! It's short, and yet so haunting at the same time. Something about the first two stanzas with the "you said" sounds so accusatory and... just overall painful, I guess. You did a good job with maintaining that sort of mysterious and emotional atmosphere throughout the poem, so... good job with that! In my opinion, that was one of the defining features and what made this poem so good.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the line flow and pattern. You start with a stanza with four lines, then go to three, then back to four, and then three. It creates this nice poetic pattern that is super subtle but just seems to work. Another thing is that you have similar first lines in the first two stanzas, with

You said
and
And you said
as well as in the first lines of the last two stanzas, with
But I've seen them
and
I've seen them
Apart from the added prepositions, they're nearly identical. This creates (in my mind, at least) a sort of call and response type structure that I believe works very well with this poem. You almost deceive the reader with how simple this looks, but you hide all these nuanced poetic devices and structure in what appears to be a simple work. Well done!

My only criticism is that I had to read it a couple times to get the meaning and to read it the correct way. You have a few words in there that can be both verbs and adverbs/adjectives, like open and close. When I was reading, that kind of tripped me up a little, but that could just be me. I don't know.

Overall: phenomenal job! I enjoyed this more and more the more times I read it. Nice work, and keep writing!




Stringbean says...


Thank you!! c:
I'm really glad to hear that! Lol and I can see now what you mean about the open/close words xD



User avatar
37 Reviews


Points: 899
Reviews: 37

Donate
Mon Aug 24, 2020 6:22 am
View Likes
Stringbean says...



...I don't know why I said in the description that this is for my chapbook.

It's not...

I have another one to publish that is...

I need to sleep...




User avatar
311 Reviews


Points: 0
Reviews: 311

Donate
Mon Aug 24, 2020 4:55 am
View Likes
Riverlight says...



Spoiler! :
You said you were sleeping!




Stringbean says...


Spoiler! :
I thought I was going to be and I should be, but... xD




You'd better wise up, Pony... you get tough like me and you don't get hurt. You look out for yourself and nothing can touch you, man.
— Dallas Winston, The Outsiders