09-23-2013, 06:22 AM
The concept and stylistic presentation aren't blindingly original, but this is a poem which gets better as it goes. The last couple of verses give a fresh twist to this old theme, where not only is our melancholic narrator impotent, but pressured into impotence lest he be punished. The images conveying your narrator and his world are strong, though a few more could be used to paint the poor, hungry multitudes he alludes to. JMHO. Thank you for the read
"We believe that we invent symbols. The truth is that they invent us; we are their creatures, shaped by their hard, defining edges." - Gene Wolfe