Frustrated
#7
(06-10-2017, 01:10 AM)nibbed Wrote:  Some cleaning, perhaps. Suggestions below:
The smell of save for later
hard boiled eggs
throughout the house
made me hungry maybe a stronger word.
so I downed
a glass of water instead,
knowing full well
those chicken fingers
breaded in Southern Biscuit Flour reads a little too long, though this could be rooted in a generic trademark that isn't well-known over here (or something)
made late yesterday
awaited chilled and firm.

Our smiles are different.
I couldn't tell if his meant tense change. also, opposed to the earlier stanza, change of time or place? unclear, and with the focus on imagery i don't think it says something particularly important, this lack of clarity.
he liked it when the anvil fell
on my skull yesterday
or he's remembering last week: i couldn't tell either. as in, there's a whole host of reasons "he" could be smiling (for example, aforementioned eggs), and the relationship between the speaker and "him" is not clear enough for me to understand that one of the few things that would make "him" smile is the speaker's pain. perhaps further develop "his" character first?
still able to tap into my
let-me-please-you programming
by winning a coaxing,
my tipping up just a half the "-ing"s grate. and, although this is somewhat pedantic, the clause is never really completed -- it should be "still able to tap into my let-me-please-you programming, subject verbed", with the subject, I'm assuming, being the speaker, and the verb being to tip.
of his very cold, comma unnecessary.
Founder's Dirty Bastard.

Maybe he's won some sort of contest with this, i'm left to assume "I couldn't tell if his meant" is meant to say "I couldn't tell if his means", which, although to my ears a bit more grating, is at least clearer.
in that land where I once danced the border
as a coin-fringed gypsy,
but it could be
he's getting ready to leave for the day,
thinking he's made another new friend again, the character of "him" is unclear -- this line could point to the poem describing some sort of hookup, or this could point to an entirely new character whose role is completely unexplained. 
who likes to take his money,

but I won't kill his innocence
by telling him
one termite, over time,
can devour an entire love shack. don't remove "love" from "love shack", ba-aby: that's where it's at. although considering the original love shack actually burned down[1], maybe the last stanza needs a bit of tweaking....but not really. 
I don't see the point of the title. Maybe it's my lack of familiarity with the whole affair, but the title reads a little standoffish, and I don't really see many cliches here, either in the language or in the southernness. Then again I am more familiar with southern us culture via audiovisual media rather than literature, so I don't really know.

[1] - http://www.today.com/popculture/b-52-s-l...fT8zo0vVuY

I found the imagery quite nice, particularly the last stanza, coin-fringed gypsy, and the specificity of the breading and the beer. Not yet sure about the piece as a whole, though right now I'm quite cool with it, just needs a bit of scrubbing. Thanks for the read.
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Messages In This Thread
Frustrated - by nibbed - 06-10-2017, 01:10 AM
RE: Kiss My Cliche Grits - by The Four-Eyed Cat - 06-10-2017, 02:17 AM
RE: Kiss My Cliche Grits - by nibbed - 06-11-2017, 02:17 AM
RE: Kiss My Cliche Grits - by vagabond - 06-10-2017, 03:32 AM
RE: Kiss My Cliche Grits - by nibbed - 06-13-2017, 03:51 AM
RE: Kiss My Cliche Grits - by Richard - 06-10-2017, 01:03 PM
RE: Kiss My Cliche Grits - by RiverNotch - 06-13-2017, 09:53 PM
RE: Kiss My Cliche Grits - by nibbed - 06-13-2017, 11:10 PM



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