z

Young Writers Society


16+ Language

Jazz band of sin.

by babydollblues


Warning: This work has been rated 16+ for language.

I feel it again,
The ferocious beating of calypso drums,
Coursing through my fingers,
Creating foul beings.
These false shadows of which have burst forth from my skin,
Have created a jazz band of sin.
The lead thing plays the saxophone with a mean streak,
Speaking through notes,
Telling me I'm a no-good girl.
A shadow further back laughs through their trombone,
Telling saxophone Sam that he's a mean man.
And Sam counters back through a long drawn out solo,
Followed by some sorrow snaps,
That he can't help that.
I'm chasing down shots,
With tambourine sobs jingling from my throat,
Talking about how no one really appreciated the jazzy ax man.
Trombone tyrone nods like they understand,
When really they're just playing a damn good rift,
And I'm actually just a few notes short of a composure.


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1272 Reviews


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Reviews: 1272

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Wed Sep 07, 2016 1:41 am
Rosendorn wrote a review...



Hello.

The first thing I noticed here was the punctuation, which isn't a good thing. By having a comma at the end of every line, you draw attention to it and make me scrutinize the formatting even more. I question why basically everything exists the way it does, because I feel the punctuation here hampers the message you're trying to get across.

Poetry has many possible punctuation combinations, and the linked article has examples of many different types. I'd suggest you read the article and apply the techniques within to try and edit this poem.

The reason I'm picking up on the punctuation here is I couldn't actually really grasp the full concept of the metaphor you're trying to create. From what I can tell, you're trying to show the jazz band as depression and the world around you? It's a good concept, but because every line is interrupted, I can't get any flow in the poem.

Flow is the heart and soul of every poem, and by ending on the end of a line— marking every break with a comma or period— you give us places to fall out of the poem. My eye doesn't follow one line to the next, my mind not connecting ideas because they're all so broken up. Try mixing around where you put commas and periods to see where they naturally fall. They don't have to go at the end of the line all the time.

All in all, I want to like this, but it just doesn't give me enough in one single unpunctuated chunk for me to really resonate with it. Your concept is solid, but the formatting really robs your poem of strength.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or comments.

~Rosey




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12 Reviews


Points: 145
Reviews: 12

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Thu Aug 18, 2016 6:09 am
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geoffles wrote a review...



Hey babydollblues! Geoff here to review~!

First impressions: This was a great poem in so many ways. I especially love the following lines.

lines 5 & 6 wrote:These false shadows of which have burst forth from my skin,
Have created a jazz band of sin.


Excellent use of wordplay there!

As for the narrative, I'm not sure I entirely understand it. It seems confusing and hectic and while I see that some of that can definitely serve the mood of the poem, it's a bit too hard to make out. The last two lines of the poem makes me think humor, but I don't want to instantly assume that in the wake of something deeper.

I adore your tambourine sobs line but in general I'm a little confused. If you could clear things up about the mood of the poem and the message you're trying to get across that'd be great! I'd love to try and understand!






In the last line, "And I'm actually just a few notes short of a composure.", I wasn't meaning an actual composure. The narrator in this line is revealing that they're not all there, I guess you could say crazy even? The hectic mood is meant to overwhelm the reader because that is how the narrator is constantly feeling! I hope this clears up a bit! Thank you for your review!




You can't choose your parentage. But you can choose your legacy.
— Rick Riordan, The Blood of Olympus