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train money
Sequiturist

top of the 4-line station
 1
streets rage in
 2
       bottled-up rain
 3
trickles down
 4
columns of welded iron—
 5
       piss meets the urinal wall
 6
 
 
a teal slated sky
 7
       introverted; sheds lather
 8
because new england
 9
       is    fucking    depressing
 10
 
 
 
 
       (now i think of reid
 11
waddling past timber-dry
 12
florida palms   recording
 13
 
 
old houses  soccer moms  minors  
 14
       out of breath   voice raspy
 15
       from thirst
 16
 
 
from thirst!)
 17
 
 
 
 
it rains   inside too—
 18
             overcast paint-chip nimbi
 19
except it comes with
 20
     a side of rust
 21
(reid  old sage that he is  would ask
 22
      "rusty rain
 23
       or rainy rust?"
 24
if he ever takes up tourism)
 25
 
 
 
 
a child behind me
 26
      has yet to     see the shades
 27
of summer days
 28
wrapped in polar layers
 29
      two holes
 30
for the nose— poor thing
 31
 
 
 
 
yet not as poor as i am—
 32
the entrance begs  
 33
                      jaws whirring
 34
and waits for cash
 35
but i don't
 36
        have train money
 37
(gave my last dollar
 38
to a man
 39
selling his latino   punk voice
 40
          by the stair way)
 41
 
 
 
 
no wet-pole-clinging
 42
                  eastbound
 43
                       seat
 44
yet too young for
 45
umbrellas
 46
 
 
over the arched williamsburg bridge
 47
rain waits to split
 48
        me open
 49
for movingtoofast
 50
cyclists wait to split
 51
        me open
 52
for m o v i n g  t o o  s l o w
 53
 
 
 
 
so i half-trawled my converses
 54
         from puddles—
 55
myself long gone
 56
now spending a summer
 57
         in balmy florida
 58
 
 
            dishing
 59
     out the last coins
 60
        in my wallet
 61
for ice cream— mint chip
 62
           because
 63
reid is one chatty fucker
 64

27 Jan 10

Rated 10 (10) by 2 users.
Active (2): 10, 10
Inactive (0):

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Comments:

who's reid?
 — unknown

This is better in my opinion then the first two you posted. You always have a LOT of imagery in your poetry but this time it was equally matched with actual events and dialogue. This poem is different than the others because it's revealing something more than just what a passerby could easily see. This really gets good for me after line 11 because then (unlike in your other ones) I get to know you a little better.

Very nice. A 10 poem, even though you don't believe in those lol.

One question: did some of the format mess up because I'm not seeing all of the extra spaces as intentional XD
 — laura352

thank you, laura.
and yes PC changes my spacing around...i think i'll polish some of the spacing up a bit.

i think this one is more 'me' than my last two because the experience is more personal.

i started this poem with the line "reid is one chatty fucker" and kinda built it up, instead of down...lol
 — Sequiturist

Hmm interesting technique lol.

And yes it is really clear that this is a much personal piece :)
 — laura352

columns of WELDed iron(y)—
have you head of weld's reputation?
go to harvard's scandal's page and you'll see what i'm talking about :)

anypoop

i like how you made parts stand out
such as

"out of breath   voice raspy
        from thirst
  
from thirst!)"

i love this part:
"for movingtoofast
cyclists wait to split
        me open
for m o v i n g  t o o  s l o w"

because the way the words were typed gives you a literal sense of what you're talking about


this poem reminds me of Catcher in the Rye
:)
 — unknown

Weld Hall is a dormitory at Harvard. I don't know about any weld scandal...enlighten me.

ew, angsty Holden....haha.
 — Sequiturist

haha, it's you, ingrid.

and you're referring to the sophomore skanks of weld? lol, good times...
 — Sequiturist

That is one of the kindest poems I've ever read.
You know, I could not write a poem at seventeen,
much less express such care or empathy for older, lessers.

See, you have The Curse, and you must be tough and not let life kill you.

Seventeen was probably the worst year of my life.  It was horrible in every aspect,
and I had no outlet, such as writing, by which to escape a nasty home life.

Sure, the weather was and is great here.  But, I mostly retired to my own room,
to make repairs to my old pocket watch collection, or create photographic prints
using old cameras from the teens and...solutions of home-mixed chemicals,
and tried pot and LSD, and wept and felt sorry for myself.  I was a mess, and still am, in a way.

Now, your poem is with any real fault. You've done something remarkable:
you wrote of life OUTSIDE of your own miserable, young-man self.
You cared enough to think of me, lately so short of breath and time.

And in so doing, you have given me reason to want to ride the bike
(but my left knee is aching for no reason).

Yes, yesterday I took my first short bike ride for a couple of weeks.
The knee hurts.  I took along a camera.  I risked the sunlight, late afternoon.
I saw the sea and the bouganvillia, and met my late friend, Bill Hugget's neice,
K....who is so pretty and sweet, and we sat on the seawall and talked of her uncle

bills....must be paid. Your poem is a gift of life to myself.
I thank you so much for the beauty of your real, living, determined self.

Eighteen will be much better!  Twenty? You will be set to own the world!

I will make a little video snipped of "huffy" out of breath, self, from the footage of yesterday,
and just for you, to see some light and color.  

It's bleak and gray in New England these days, but not really.
You have imagination enough to be anywhere you want to be.
You are now an adult, and a good one.

ty,
 — R_Reid_Welch

I refuse to be in the Catcher Cult lol.

Damn yuppies.
 — laura352

^ laura, Salinger is dead...don't you feel bad about that comment now?! :D

reid, thank you for the compliments.
i hope your knees get better and then you can bike more.
this poem...it's the very least that i can do to brighten your day. :)
 — Sequiturist

^ Of course not. I never feel bad about my comments! lol :p
 — laura352

this poem is rated 10. nonsensical!

please critique the cap off of this poem, thanks!
 — Sequiturist

LOL
This was great-
Lines 14-17 made me laugh, soccer moms- hehe.

And lines 43-49 are awesome- in words and the way they are layed out.
Well done CHAP!
 — mandolyn

OH and yes at 17 you are VERY talented!!
I just thought about that.
Wow.
 — mandolyn

thank you, mandolyn.

my main problems with this poem are lines 32-42...any specific opinions on those 2 stanzas?
 — Sequiturist

Hmm I don't.
I think it is good.
;)
 — mandolyn

Just a quick blurb from me. Accidental genius? Those two words, especially when it is referring to the author, is really awkward, and pretentious. The rest of the poem is great.
 — NadCloutier

Don't feel down that BxPR disrespects you. He does that with a lot of poets here. That is the way he is, they grow them like that in hillbilly states. You are ten times a better poet than he can ever hope to be.
 — unknown

I have no problem with L32-42.

That part for me is like the hook. It's the part that could easily get stuck in my head XD
 — laura352

thanks unk. i'll leave the veteran alone in his infinite superiority and wisdom (heh).

and laura, ty.

too bad that now i wish i hadn't written this poem. :(
 — Sequiturist

Well-crafted, well-characterized, thoroughly enjoyable. No crits.
 — NicMichaels

thank you, NicMichaels...any other takers?
 — Sequiturist

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