poetry critical

online poetry workshop

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Welcome!

Welcome to Poetry Critical, an online poetry workshop. To post your own poetry you'll need to create a user id by typing a name and password in the box above and hitting 'New User'. If you just want to critique or jump into the discussion, however, you can go ahead and get started!

Poetry Critical 2.0

Hey guys, Donald here.

In a few weeks, this site will be 9 years old. 9 years! And I still know some of the earliest submissions by heart.

But, boy. That’s like 102 in web-years. So it’s time for something new. I’m building that something now with my nights-and-weekend minutes (and plenty of coffee). Buy me a cup?

Development updates from Twitter:

Follow @poetrycritical for more!

Random Poem:

señor
unknown

señor,
 1
the little hispanic girl
 2
calls out softly.
 3
 
 
i'm at the park
 4
pushing my son
 5
on the swings.
 6
 
 
she's sitting
 7
on the swing
 8
next to us.
 9
 
 
señor,
 10
she calls again
 11
a little louder.
 12
 
 
i purposely
 13
ignore her.
 14
 
 
i know
 15
she wants me to push her.
 16
i don't mind doing it,
 17
but these days
 18
you're liable to get
 19
accused of being a child molester.
 20
 
 
señor!
 21
she squeaks
 22
at the top of her lungs.
 23
 
 
i don't know
 24
where all these hispanic kids come from.
 25
but here at this park
 26
they're always thick like locusts
 27
and their parents
 28
are never around.
 29
 
 
finally her older brother
 30
on the swings to our right
 31
says: mister my sister wants you to push her.
 32
 
 
i push her with my left hand
 33
and my son with my right.
 34
 
 
then they decide
 35
it's another little girls' turn,
 36
but the brother
 37
isn't strong enough
 38
to  lift his sister
 39
out of the bucket seat.
 40
 
 
i lift her out
 41
and drop in a little girl
 42
with a forehead
 43
like mount rushmore.
 44
 
 
how do you get
 45
so big muscles?
 46
the brother
 47
asks me.
 48
 
 
i tell him
 49
i lift weights.
 50
 
 
i don't have weights,
 51
he says
 52
staring at my arm.
 53
 
 
i tell him
 54
he can get an empty
 55
gallon milk jug
 56
fill it with sand
 57
and do curls with it.
 58
like this,
 59
i say
 60
showing him the motion.
 61
 
 
you teach me
 62
i be right back,
 63
he says excitedly
 64
and runs home
 65
to pour out
 66
the family milk supply.
 67
 
 
rapido señor,
 68
says the new little girl
 69
in the swing.
 70
 
 
she's fearless.
 71
black eyes like obsidian.
 72
 
 
rapido,
 73
she orders me like a general.
 74
rapdido rapido
 75
up to the clouds.
 76

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