DoubleU19 May 2005
The One, by the way, is not because of the subject but because you wrote down a memory and that's all you did. The reason there is no poetry, no 'shock' in it, is because you didn't take enough distance from yourself. It sounds a contradiction, but for generating reader's sympathy (with this subject or any other subsequents), stepping back and looking at yourself from a distance is necessary. I see what you tried to bring about: to shock through ways of directness and simplicity. Sometimes it works, but not here. At least, it doesn't work with me.
<<and in my innocence I followed>>
I now realise that your poem may leave something truly horrible unsaid: rape. Believe me, I wouldn't snigger at that. But don't expect me to draw that conclusion from a poem that fails to communicate emotionally.