READING ROOM
Great Writing - Home
Read and review others' work
Articles on writing
Advice from the community
COMMUNITY
Talk to others in the forums
Events and Competitions
GW News
ABOUT GREAT WRITING
All About Us
Contact Us
WORK AWAITING REVIEW
GW IS...
Great Writing creative writing community is designed to prompt ideas and provide inspiration and motivation within aspiring and amateur authors. Whatever your topic; from love poetry to Doctor Who or Harry Potter fan fiction, Great Writing's online writing group is where you can make new friends and improve your creative writing.
WHO'S ONLINE
We have 1821 guests online and 9 members online
Poetry
Clouds
By JourneyAtNight
11 April 2007
This isn't so much poetry - haven't  done much of that recently - just an experiment. It's a little scatty but any thoughts on it would be greatly appreciated!

p.s. I'm not so sure about the "fluffy comfort" - perhaps it sounds too much like a fabric softer?


Clouds

On the roof and on top of her world,
terracotta tiles warm beneath her feet
while a quick wind plays about her neck
dashing down her spine
hunching her sholders and raising her head to the sky
where nonchalant clouds catch her eye

and they really are just like cotton wool
she thinks.
Then
on impulse 
              and on
                      tip
                        - toe
with the rush of the breeze
she reaches up to touch them
straining against sunlight
trying to feel
experience the plush whiteness
against her palms, 
fluffy comfort
among her fingers.

but she cannot reach high enough.

Sighing into the wind, she sinks to the floor,
watches and waves goodbye
as they continue to curve softly about the shadows,
and vanish behind the hill.

Reviews
Hi JAN
Written by jean.day (2196 comments posted) 11th April 2007
Lovely poem. I like the nonchalant clouds, plush whiteness and the fuffy comfort. 
 
My husband says that great paintings are determined by how the artist painted the clouds. But he likes storm clouds best.

Written by Phil (6387 comments posted) 11th April 2007
I liked this very much, but as you suggest, it needs a little work. 
 
The overall idea works very well and is worthy of all the words. There's just a few clumsy constructions. I wonder if proper punctuation wouldn't help with this as it would make you reconsider the structure of each sentence - something you can perhaps avoid when you avoid punctuation. I didn't mind fluffy comfort. 
 
Jean said lovely - I agree - very visual in whites, blues and terracotta. (sp?) I ust think you could 'tune' this some and make something pretty special. 
 
Phil.

Written by Fledermaus (3159 comments posted) 11th April 2007
Very nice indeed. 
I wouldn't have thought about the fluffy comfort if you hadn't mentioned it, but then, isn't the whole metaphor about fabric... cotton wool, plush whiteness... It fits the theme. A cute poem.
Hello Jan
Written by Josie (2496 comments posted) 11th April 2007
I also liked your poem, but, like Phil, I think you could work on this to make it much better. I'd like to know who "she" is? Is it a cat? And yet, would a cat wave goodbye? Or is it a woman up on a flat roof? No - terracotta tiles? Please tell us who "she" is. You know I don't like mysteries.

Written by JourneyAtNight (301 comments posted) 11th April 2007
Thanks everyone. :) 
 
Josie: I just returned from a holiday in Spain last week. Where we stayed, there were a lot of flat roofs covered with glazed terracotta tiles - a perfect place to enjoy the scenery. It's where I got the idea from and so "she" could very well be a woman or a child or even a cat if you like (which I never actually thought of, but could work very well!) 
 
It does need some work, thanks again for the comments. 
 

 

Written by ellipinnock (1753 comments posted) 17th April 2007
I liked this and, awkwardly enough, don;t think you need to do too much to it, just tidy it up maybe. 
 
Fluffy comfort made me think of bog roll and whisky I'm afraid! 
 
But I thought it very pretty - painted a lovely scene. 
 
Elli

   Only registered users can rate and write comments.
   Please login or register.

Powered by AkoComment 2.0!

 Previous item   Next item