The Boy in The Window

by highflyer

Published January 20, 2020

E - Everyone

In feelings and junk

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Sometimes,

I see the boy in the Window

Looking down at me.

Sometimes he smiles

Sometimes he waves,

Peering down through the leaves.

Other times the look he holds

Isn’t quite as clear.

Is it a trembling smile?

A shaky hand,

Sweeping away a tear?

I know he wishes to protect me,

To seal his feelings away.

But everyday I see him,

With his slowly dropping facade.

I saw a flash of something,

A look of sorrow in his eye,

As he looks upon the world below.

Why does he have to hide?

Comments & reviews · 11
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Lethargic
Review
Lethargic wrote a review Review · Mar 20, 2020

This is a great poem! I really love how haunting everything about it is, and how the narrator never draws too much attention to themselves. The character of the boy is very compelling to me, in particular. The narrator’s constant barrage of questions is an effective detail. You do a great job of establishing that the narrator wants to know more about the mysterious boy. The final line is an amazing ending to this piece. I love that you leave off on one final burning question about the boy. Overall, I’m really impressed!

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Clairia
Review
Clairia wrote a review Review · Jan 26, 2020

Hi, there! I'm Clairia, here to review.

I loved the eerie feeling of this poem. The title itself gave that impression right away; I've had nightmares of people looking in through my window, and I actually had one in particular where a child was just staring at me. Your piece resonated with me quickly in that sense and I was excited to read it.

Your piece starts off as relatively heartwarming, however, which caught me off guard.

Sometimes,

I see the boy in the Window

Looking down at me.

Sometimes he smiles

Sometimes he waves,

Peering down through the leaves.

This didn't strike me as an attempt to scare the reader, which I appreciated. The little boy was portrayed as more of a friend than some unfamiliar "creature", which is sweet, albeit a touch unrealistic. I did notice that your narrator didn't have much to say in regards to their reaction to the presence of this boy. Where they frightened? Calmed? Neutral? Because you didn't make it a point to portray emotion through your main character, I wasn't really able to get a complete understanding of what sort of feeling you wanted to convey through your writing.
Other times the look he holds

Isn’t quite as clear.

Is it a trembling smile?

A shaky hand,

Sweeping away a tear?

This transition was very well done. I liked the shift from "everything is fine" to "perhaps there's something behind that smile." The character seems to be questioning the boy and his motives, wondering if he's been hurt or forced into hiding, which I thought was expressed very well. It also drops a hint of "if you see something, say something". It was interesting thinking about if this story carried a hidden message for how some people hide their pain in the real world.

Overall, I really liked your work! The technical issues have already been pointed out by the past reviewers, so I won't make it a point to go over them again. Great job!

Thank you for sharing (and keep writing!)

Clairia

This review was brought to you by @Clairia from Team Ruby Reviewers!
Happy January 2020 Review day!
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thing2 Comment
thing2 commented Comment · Jan 23, 2020

Overall, I enjoyed reading your poem! Many parts were easy to visualize, but as I began to reread it I got confused about the perspective from which it is written. Other than that, this poem is amazing and keep up the good work!

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ChrisCalaid
Review
ChrisCalaid wrote a review Review · Jan 23, 2020

Hey this is amazing poem highflyer! Though has some mistake in grammar.
First of all there is a little mistake in the first line.

"I see the boy in the Window" is to be, 'I see a boy in the Window'
I am not sure but I think you should make 'W' in the 'Window' a lower case

"Sometimes he smiles "He sometimes smile
to
Sometimes he waves" Sometimes he waves

Just suggestion.

"Peering down through the leaves."
I think maybe you could describe more. Like peering down through the green leaves.

"Other times the look he holds "Other times the look he holds,
to
Isn’t quite as clear." isn't quite as clear."

I think using commas to separate is better, readers can know easily that the look he hold isn't quite as clear. And if you are writing this as third person or you are saying about lots kind of 'look'(s)you should fix "look" to "looks".

You may want to change this part, maybe.
"Why does he have to hide?" could be "Why would have to hide?"

I agree with tgham99 but with a different reason. I want to know more about the boy and ending.
No offence.

And again your work is beautiful and I want to read more about the boy.
<Chris D.

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tgham99
Review
tgham99 wrote a review Review · Jan 21, 2020

Jumping in to leave a review!

This is a very straightforward poem that is easy to follow, and I like your use of imagery; I feel like it sets a sort of mysterious tone that leaves the reader asking questions -- does the boy know you're watching? Why does he feel the need to hide? Is he afraid of something?

I read further down that this poem was inspired by a real life friend of yours which makes this piece that much more powerful. With that context in mind, I'm thinking that this poem deserves a part 2/a continuation so we get more answers as to why the boy feels the need to hide.. but that's just me being poetry-greedy hahaha

I thought it was interesting that you capitalized the word Window in the second line; was this intentional? I also figured I'd add that there seems to be a comma missing from the line "Sometimes he smiles", but these are small grammar suggestions that don't take away from the meaning all too much.

Great poem, and I'd love to read more of your work <3

MadagascarMaiden wrote a review Review · Jan 21, 2020

Hi, MadagascarMaiden popping in for a review! :-)
I love this short but simple and appealing poem. It really makes a good point. You express a lot of longings. To become friends, maybe, with someone who is always hiding away. Just the right amount of punctuation. I am a poet myself and I could tell. Keep up the good work. :-)

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QuoolQuo
Review
QuoolQuo wrote a review Review · Jan 21, 2020

A hoy hoy,

I found the use of imagery in the poem really quite effective and the whole thing had constant and steady pacing that flowed very well. The information is sparse enough to make the audience wonder what is happening and yet enough is conveyed to give us a clear picture of the characters emotions.

Keep up the good work.

Wow, thank you so much! I'm really glad I got the emotions across, that's something I've been having trouble with, so that really makes me feel better!

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yourboysalem
Review
yourboysalem wrote a review Review · Jan 20, 2020

This is quite brief and direct. It's not hard to understand, like some pieces of work out there - such as very subjective poetry. However, you can imagine many different stories and scenarios where this would fit - for some reason it made me think of that movie 'The Girl In The Train', which is a great movie by the way.

Very cute! I like it. Xx

Thank you so much! It's cool that my poem can have people make connections to other pieces of work and media. Glad you like it!

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4revgreen
Review
4revgreen wrote a review Review · Jan 20, 2020

Hey, Che here for a real quick review :-)

I'll start by saying that this poem flowed really, really well. I always find that when a poem flows well, it means the author really knows what they're trying to convey and that it means something to them.
I also liked the kind of rhyme scheme - - It helped with the flow
The imagery you created was strong and emotional and drew me in: I want to know more about this boy in the window :-)
I wonder if this boy has a whole story to be told about him? I'd be really interested to know if this was something you planned on expanding into a story.

Keep writing!
- Che :-)

Ah, thank you so much! I'm really glad you liked it! This indeed does mean a lot to me, it was based off of a friend I used to have who I worried about a lot. I'm not sure if I'll expand it just yet, because I have other plans for now, but perhaps in future? Thanks again!

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CassieList
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CassieList commented Comment · Jan 20, 2020

I like how the story flows! Even thought some of it is choppy its hidden between the other pieces of flowing work. I like the story behind the boy in the window and the narrator. The word choice is nice and works with everything in the story.


Review by LP

Thank you! I'll try to work on laying out my lines so they flow a bit better in future. :)

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highflyer
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highflyer commented Comment · Jan 20, 2020

ew



it's ok, death by laughter was always how i've wanted to go out
— Carina