E - Everyone

{untitled for now}

some nights, i think i am an aquarium.

with all the silence of swimming fish; 

i am buoyant.

the stars shine on my waters

and i've got dolphin flips on my mind.
 

whole schools of herring

slip silver through my veins;

and sharks, 

who always need to swim forward,

are chasing after my backwards thoughts, 

dredging the shallows with pointed teeth

unsuited for bottom feeding;

leave that to the vacuum-mouthed,

to the loose-lipped lovers of my left-behinds.
 

jellyfish

float easily on my brain

waves and the sunlight streaks

like blurry watercolors catching on the current,

minnows chasing dust specks.

you can barely see me,

my body darwinian in the seaweed, 

my grabby octopus mind clinging to the coral

reefs are beautiful in these shining waters

but


i am a tiny ocean

waves crash, collapse

and my heart is caught in a rowboat

on the surface, lost without a map

and trying so hard to find the shore.

Comments & reviews · 8
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.

User avatar
dogs
Review
dogs wrote a review · Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:10 pm

Hello there smallory! Dogs here with your review today! Firstly if I may say: WELCOME TO YWS! i hope you enjoy your time here. I'm Tucker, and if there is anything you need, a review, some help, advice, ANYTHING! Let me know and I'd be more than happy to help you out. Anywho, on to ze review! Well goodness this was an excellent piece of writing. You have wonderful imagery and I truly enjoyed reading it. I think that the biggest thing that I'd point out is that you should always capitalize "i" when used a proper noun. Reason being, it just looks sloppy when you don't. I understand the writing style that you're using, but I don't believe not capitalizing "i" really adds anything extra to your piece.

"think i am an aquarium."

Try to omit all useless words whenever you can. Try saying: "think I'm an aquarium." That also takes out the repetition of "i" in that first line.

"i am buoyant."

Nice, great use of "buoyant." I love the vocab use that you use in this line, excellent job here. Well done.

"and i've got dolphin flips on my mind."

Sounds a tad bit awkward, try saying: "and I have dolphin flips on my mind" instead. Minor change, but it just helps out with the flow.

"who always need to swim forward,"

Tad bit awkwardly worded, try saying something more like: "who must always keep swimming forward" or something along those lines. Whatever works.

"dredging the shallows with pointed teeth"

I enjoy this line, great vocab again. The excellent vocab use immediately makes the imagery stronger.

That last stanza is stellar. Certainly the best bit of your poem. I really enjoyed reading your writing, you have some darn good talent here. I hope to read more of your writing soon! Let me know if you ever need a review. Keep up the good work!

TuckEr EllsworTh :smt032

User avatar
carbonCore
Comment

Sweet poem. I'd like 10 pounds of whatever substances assisted in its creation.

Wow, this is probably one of the most breathtakingly unique poems I have ever read! It has this sort of...what's the word for it... abstract beauty that I love, and I think you did a great job. Your word choice, and metaphorical imagery ties together naturally as (quoting Llamahorse, because I couldn't say it better than that myself)

I like the way you show the complexity of your subject unraveling the words.

I couldn't find any spelling mistakes either.
But, there are a few thing(s) to improve on:

my body darwinian in the seaweed,


darwinian should be Darwinian.

And I noticed in the other reviews, people commented on the way you don't capitalize your Is. But I've read many poems that do this for artistic effect. So as far as I'm concerned that's not really a problem.

leave that to the vacuum-mouthed,
to the loose-lipped lovers of my left-behinds.


I read this aloud, and it didn't sound quite right. So either the 'to' on the second line should be 'and'. Or the comma on the first line should be a semi-colon.

Title suggestions: Ripple, Heart of Blue, The seas no one sees.

Overall, this poem was awesome! It captured my attention from the beginning, and held it all the way through, great job!

4 *s

Keep it up!

w&w

User avatar
Llamahorse
Review

hi!
I like the way you show the complexity of your subject unraveling the words. But it is just strange to read it out loud. The first stanzas are short and brief, while the last ones are long and a little harder to understand.
Usually we pause at the end of each line but there are commas. So it is cut-up.
Another thing: Are you comparing your body to an aquarium or to an ocean, because although they are similar, they have different effects.

User avatar
LadyPurple
Review

Hiya! I see you are fairly new! WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am LadyPuple and I will be your first review of the day!
I'd like to start off with this: I liked the imagery. :) I genuinely enjoyed this poem and found it very nice.
But I have just three tiny things to point out. You don't quite capitalize your "I"s very often. You see how I capitalize the "I" all the time when I'm talking about myself? That's what I'm talking about. Another thing was capitalization at the beginning of a new sentence.
Another, the capitalization of "darwinian". Since this is a name it should be, "Darwinian" capitalized like that. Capitalization seems to be the only problem you really have.
Otherwise, you're doing well with this whole writing thing :D lol. Keep up the good work!
~LP

Whoops...I didn't meant to post that twice! Sorry!

User avatar
LadyPurple
Comment

Hiya! I see you are fairly new! WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am LadyPuple and I will be your first review of the day!
I'd like to start off with this: I liked the imagery. :) I genuinely enjoyed this poem and found it very nice.
But I have just three tiny things to point out. You don't quite capitalize your "I"s very often. You see how I capitalize the "I" all the time when I'm talking about myself? That's what I'm talking about. Another thing was capitalization at the beginning of a new sentence.
Another, the capitalization of "darwinian". Since this is a name it should be, "Darwinian" capitalized like that. Capitalization seems to be the only problem you really have.
Otherwise, you're doing well with this whole writing thing :D lol. Keep up the good work!
~LP

Random avatar
smallory Comment

hehe, i just accidentally posted a comment to my own poem and can't figure out how to delete it.

newbie alert. ;3



If it wasn't for poetry, I couldn't express myself.
— Rosendorn