Rhiannon1010
Rhiannon1010
Nov 03, 2017

Terror

Poem Body

Hanging on the precipice of the future,
Disease and death stand by,
Suspended orbit, frozen space.
Hollow echo of water
droplets on concrete.
Spit popping in the back of throats
like the spines of rodents
under a sudden steel spring.
Shuddering gasps of trees
in the night. Shredded air
and tattered lungs,
mucous polyps searching in a vacuum.
Sodden butterfly wings,
immobilized leaden gossamer.
Translucent flesh and sunlight
flash bloodless and fresh.
Sinew severed with the sound of a sour mouth, or silence.
Nothingness that screams for attention
like a warped mirror or static ripple
in a pool of abyssal ink.

About This Poem

Review Request Direction: What did you think of my title?

Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back

Editing Stage: Editing - rough draft

About the Author

Region, Country: North Carolina, USA, USA

Favorite Poets: Alfred Noyes, T. S. Eliot, Lewis Carroll, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, William Blake, Seamus Heaney, Robert Herrick

More from this author

Comments

Geezer

terror to me! A nightmare that I don't want to have. I have to like this one, don't know why, but I do. Nothing to say about it, because I don't know enough about the style. ~ Gee.
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Eumolpus

You have made a good "list poem", a poem which paints a scene with words to list with images and love of the inner music of words. For me the work is great ground work, but needs an action. The photo has to become a video. The word play is great

Spit popping in the back of throats
like the spines of rodents
under a sudden steel spring.
Shuddering gasps of trees
in the night. Shredded air
and tattered lungs...

Good stuff. It all just needs a "raison d'etre"

Rhiannon1010

I think I understand. Like give it some context or background? So that it has more relevance and poignancy?

Eumolpus

My feeling is a poem needs both description (adjectives) and some narrative, a verb..
You have described terror with the use of word sounds and images very nicely, it connects to the senses, but needs just a force to drive it to the brain..the cause of this terror, whatever it is that connects the poem to you or the reader as a result of an action. Does terror have all dominion, is there any force or hope to overcome it...what has caused this sensation is inside you? These are the questions I would be asking myself if writing this type of poem.
So I think the poem can be just a little bit longer, adding a knock-out punch to the reader

Eumolpus

I think the introduction of Nothingness as the terror rings true. What can be more terrifying? What a great find in the word "abyssal" .
For me its a fine poem! Are you happy with it?

Rhiannon1010

I am happy with it, though it doesn't feel quite done to me. I'm not sure if I really need to tweak it or if, like a painter. I just need to step back and stew on it a while. N my art classes at uni they tell us that once we think "I think I'm done" to stop working and quit looking for imperfections, otherwise we will overwork the piece.