Interpretations

[Carrie Birdsong]

I pretended not to look
as she carved her back
into a statue, and cracked it.

We were the only ones
in the library, and I was reading
her vertebrae like a poem
I couldn’t understand.

Somewhat new at this so bear with me...
I found this poem to be quite beautiful and complex actually. Despite the length, it says a thousand words. I pictured a teen boy, in a library, pining after the pretty girl. At the same time, you get the feeling of frustration and longing when you add the cracking of her back. He sees her as both unattainable and flawed, which is the sort of confused feelings of adolescent love.
  As stated by others, that cracked makes the flow of the poem stutter. I feel it actually adds to the poem instead of taking away from it. It gave me the same feeling as what I think the boy would feel. The startled feeling when you are pulled from day dream to reality. The only constructive criticism I would give is for you to expand your vocabulary. I'd love to see what you could produce using more complex words.

    Sorry, this has been bugging me all night. It sounded super pretentious for me to tell you to expand your vocabulary. Please take it as a compliment to your skill. I have a teen daughter and this poem activated "mom" mode, which basically means I treated you like I would my daughter instead of as a complete stranger who just needs critique and not life tips. Anyway, I am learning how to critique better, so please, if you can, give me mulligan on this one.