October 9

Post— by Jill Alexander Essbaum

I love rhymes in poems, both subtle and overt. But generally in free verse, rhyme seems self-conscious, as if the poet wants to be able to distance herself from the idea of rhyme while using the chime of rhyme. I liked quite a bit about this poem, but the rhymes struck my ear as very contrived and clunky, not extravagant, elegant, or playful--all potential attributes of good rhyming.

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Spittoono Lily by Thorpe Moeckel

No one could accuse Moeckel of treading too-well-worn ground here. There are a few turns of phrase that I appreciate, but. Well. I've been saying that a lot lately, respecting a few lines out of a poem but not really appreciating the whole. That isn't how I want to be.

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Prayer by Joanie Mackowski

A pretty poem with some quite attractive images, but the sum of the parts doesn't resonate with me. For once, I think the poem could afford to be longer, could afford a plot instead of a précis, something to bind these images into something more significant than a list in a poem.