An Artist's Musings

I do know how hard it is to sketch the hands and wrist,always gave me a lot of trouble as well,...i like the use of imagery here,very well done,i really like this poem,my fav lines... She lives, at last, Not in the darkness Of my bewildered brain - But chasing the flying inkdrops That stain this artist’s paper. Lacy, Where power corrupts,poetry cleanses.

I felt as if you shifted track with this one ... and it was a awesome poem .. I am looking forward to watching you grow in words .. and my favourite lines are Calliope's Love and hugs Jayne x x

My eyes fastened on this one's opening lines and were swept along for the ride! It reads very well and is chocked full of vibrant imagery!

This poem not only has an emotive subject which engages us in itself but is very effectively crafted with delicate and novel imagery which has the effect of making the reader consider the detailed appearance of their own wrists and how a razor’s edge would slash it. “Tracery of veins”;, “arterial wires” “Woven with nerves and bound muscle; “blood-blossoms”; “chasing the flying inkdrops” are extremely descriptive and novel. Your use of imagery in particular is very good at showing the reader what is envisaged rather than just telling them. As for the meaning that is being conveyed, then for me at least, this poem has a number of levels which make it all the more compelling. On the surface it appears to be about someone contemplating slashing their wrists but finding an outlet for all their unanswered questions and uncontrollable emotions in an artist’s pen. Clearly from your comment after the poem the poet intended that it is more an artist’s pen that is revealing the life blood throbbing in their arteries. The poem can also be interpreted as the process of searching for meaning and understanding in life not through both physical experience and pain but through the attainment of an enlightened state. Finally, there is the way that the choice of words and structure creates an ebb and flow to the reading of the poem which complements the contemplative and sudden movement aspects very well. The first and third verses, for example, start with sudden movement captured in short lines..”Shall it dance..” “Or shall I slash…” and then become gradually more contemplative using the softer imagery and longer lines to slow the pace appropriately. In terms of what does not for me work quite as well in the poem the verse: “Beneath is an alien universe Unfamiliar to me, But stars that scream their pain.” jars slightly because of the use of “alien” which conjures up a slight sci-fi image. I also feel that while the last line of this verse is very powerful it perhaps needed a little more developing. The choice of “bewildered” and alliteration with “brain” is also rather too lighthearted for the serious statements being made at this point. Finally, the last line of the poem could be a little stronger. “Stain” is perhaps not emotive enough given the style of the rest of the poem and the reader is expecting something more powerful…especially in a last line. with best wishes Keith