Kites

New to poetry? Unsure about the quality of your work? Then why not post here to receive some gentle feedback.
Post Reply
User avatar
sneaker
Persistent Poster
Persistent Poster
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:53 pm
Location: SW France

Fri Jul 04, 2008 10:47 am

Flawless skin,fearless and fragile.
You hold tight to the strings,
laughter in your eyes reflecting,
his wide indulgent smile.

The kite strings bite, small fingers
pulled up, coloured cloth
dances higher and wilder now.
Daddy guides your hands.

He won't let it fall.

Walking home, balancing on low
walls that build higher, you
hold tight, my hands pulled up,
until I can't reach, but

I won't let you fall.

Today ballet shoes and ribbons,
tomorrow high heels and pierced ears.
You'll shake your head laughing,
the coloured beads dancing at
yours ears like kite tails.
"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need. " M.Jagger
smiffey
Persistent Poster
Persistent Poster
Posts: 148
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2008 8:42 pm
Location: Hampshire

Fri Jul 04, 2008 12:50 pm

Hi Sneaker,

A very nice, gentle poem.

I like the shift from father not letting the kite fall to mother not letting the child fall and the comparison alluded to.

Minor typo last stanza. last line - your ears.

Thanks for sharing the poem.

Cheers
smiffey
Regards Andy Smith
User avatar
Kilravluis
Productive Poster
Productive Poster
Posts: 70
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 7:04 pm

Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:43 pm

I like the way you've linked childhood and adulthood with the coloured beads/kite tail image. It's very effective and makes for a strong ending.

Kiljoyluis
Elphin
Perspicacious Poster
Perspicacious Poster
Posts: 2944
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2007 4:10 pm

Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:42 pm

sneaker

Not much I can say - this is a good picture.

I might make a minor change for emphasis removing the comma and capitalising this

Today ballet shoes and ribbons.
Tomorrow high heels and pierced ears.

good stuff

elphin
kozmikdave
Perspicacious Poster
Perspicacious Poster
Posts: 2185
Joined: Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:36 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Sat Jul 05, 2008 12:43 pm

Gidday

I liked this too. At first I wasn't too fussed about the present tense, but it worked pretty well by the end.

Good job
Cheers
Dave

"And I'm lost, and I'm lost
I'm lost at the bottom of the world
I'm handcuffed to the bishop and the barbershop liar
I'm lost at the bottom of the world
"
[Tom]
arunansu
Perspicacious Poster
Perspicacious Poster
Posts: 2873
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:01 pm
Location: INDIA
Contact:

Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:01 pm

Very effective write. Moved by the way you linked chilhood with the kite's flight. :D
keekee107
Productive Poster
Productive Poster
Posts: 99
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:13 am

Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:15 pm

Lovely feel to this poem and a nicely portrayed theme. Not really got much to add, just wanted to add my praise. Nice work :).
David
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 13973
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2006 4:40 pm
Location: Ellan Vannin

Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:21 am

Nice work, sneaker. So nice, in fact, that I hope you won't mind if I give you a few pointers. Striving, always striving, that's how to improve, so ...

Flawless skin,fearless and fragile. This is not a sentence, but it's a lovely line.
You hold tight to the strings,
laughter in your eyes reflecting, "laughter in your eyes" is a little cliched, and do you want a comma here?
his wide indulgent smile.

The kite strings bite, small fingers
pulled up, coloured cloth
dances higher and wilder now. These three lines are a bit jumpy, maybe? But maybe that's appropriate in the context.
Daddy guides your hands.

He won't let it fall.

Walking home, balancing on low
walls that build higher, you
hold tight, my hands pulled up,
until I can't reach, but

I won't let you fall. Very nice, but if you had another stanza here it would match the opening section.

Today ballet shoes and ribbons,
tomorrow high heels and pierced ears.
You'll shake your head laughing,
the coloured beads dancing at
yours ears like kite tails. OK, I just love this stanza.

Really good work, but it can always get better. Almost always get better.

Cheers

David
User avatar
Danté
Perspicacious Poster
Perspicacious Poster
Posts: 2022
Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:40 pm
Location: nothere

Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:28 pm

Hello Sneaker

I really enjoyed the tone and sincerity of this poem. There are a number of things in life that are beyond the mechanics of their happening. The embodiment of sentiment and emotion shine through your writing here. The comma use in s1, I could take or leave as the line breaks already create enough halt to each transition, but then I might not be the best person to listen to regarding comma usage ;-)
I am not too sure about some of the line breaks in s3 as I find them a little intrusive rather than simply passing by without notice. This is obviously only my personal feeling and is in no way a criticism of the way you have decided to format the poem.
S4 closes very nicely and imparts enough resolution to finish with a fulfilling end.

Lovely read


Danté
to anticipate touching what is unseen seems far more interesting than seeing what the hand can not touch
User avatar
sneaker
Persistent Poster
Persistent Poster
Posts: 164
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:53 pm
Location: SW France

Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:32 am

Thankyou everone for your comments & suggestions, very much appreciated. Thanks especially to David, & no I don't mind pointers in the least, that is what I'm here for. I am new to this but I'm serious about learning the craft and improving so please any help is gratefully received.That missing stanza was so obvious once you'd pointed it out!
I'm not sure if this is the right place to put the revision but here it is for you approval or otherwise...

Kites (revised)

Flawless skin,fearless and fragile,
you hold tight to the strings.
The sky in your eyes reflecting
his wide indulgent smile.

The kite strings bite, small fingers
pulled up, coloured cloth
dances higher and wilder now.
Daddy guides your hands.

He won't let it fall.

Time to pack, you fidget and fret,
plucking my sleeve with anxious tugs.
Skipping ahead of us, we call
"not too far, come back"

Walking home, balancing on low
walls that build higher, you
hold tight, my hands pulled up,
until I can't reach, but

I won't let you fall.

Today ballet shoes and ribbons
Tomorrow high heels and pierced ears.
You'll shake your head laughing,
the coloured beads dancing at
your ears like kite tails.
"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need. " M.Jagger
Old Poet
Posts: 30
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:59 am

Sat Jul 12, 2008 3:45 am

Well, Sneaker, I can see that your poem has been thoroughly vetted by the resident critics and so there's little I can add except to say that I liked "Kites" a lot. I must thank you for writing and posting it for in the reading images of flying a kite with my six year old daughter came flooding out of the well of this old man's memory. Merci, mon ami.
User avatar
the stranger
Prolific Poster
Prolific Poster
Posts: 324
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2004 4:40 am

Sun Jul 13, 2008 1:20 am

I admire your control of the metaphor, how you guide it through, loverly.

I would say:

laughter in your eyes reflecting,
his wide indulgent smile.


Is a bit near the sickly knuckle? and it doesnt really make sense. I only mention this because the poem is obviously steeped in sentimentality (in a good way) but for me those lines jault a little.

great read though, I like your style.

TS
Post Reply