Zachary Phillips

Poetry: Handling Criticism, Feedback & Alternative Interpretations Of Your Work

I really enjoyed this poem. For feedback on this kind/style of poem, I will need more direction as it seems well written and evocative. The only questions I have is the first italic line 'grand rising!' I am not sure of the implication of the line/its intention. But none the less I am moved so it works!

Thank you for your feedback! This piece is part of a book of poetry I am writing. The book is a poet's diary navigating grief, suicidality, and finding the lovely in just about everything around her. This poem is about taking in a lesson from the ducks she sees playing across the street. Inspired by Mary Oliver's poem, Invitation. I placed the italics and indented the lines where either the ducks or I are speaking. I wasn't too sure how to stylize that in poetry. Do I just put quotation marks? Do I get rid of the indentation? It is a tactic I employed in other poems in the book, so maybe the reader wouldn't be so confused? Not sure, but any feedback is helpful :)

In terms of style, it is all, well, a poets choice. The formatting you can express here versus in a book will be different. But based on principles, you want your formatting to also suggest feelings/emphasis to the reader. AKA if you bold or italics or capitalise, do so as an active choice with a reason behind it. 

This is a poem in a larger body of work that is in progress. I'm currently editing some pieces and would love a constructive critique on this poem :)<img srcset="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/project/9907b407a09fdfd7f082f21e4bf89fa5/57be7ebb.png 600w, https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/project/9907b407a09fdfd7f082f21e4bf89fa5/57be7ebb.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 600px, 100vw" src="https://static.skillshare.com/uploads/project/9907b407a09fdfd7f082f21e4bf89fa5/57be7ebb.png" loading="lazy" alt="Muscovy Ducks - image 1 - student project">

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