Poetry & wordplay21 categories
Tell me what this poem is actually about
When the draft is circling something you haven't admitted yet.
Read the poem below and tell me what it is about, distinguishing carefully between: 1. **The stated subject**: what the poem says it is about on the surface. 2. **The apparent subject**: what a careful reader would say it is about. 3. **The actual subject**: what the poem keeps returning to in its images, verbs, and hesitations, even where it never names it. Evidence every claim about the third with quotation. Pay attention to: which nouns recur, what the poem refuses to say, where the syntax tightens, where a metaphor comes from a different world than the rest. Then: if the stated subject and the actual subject differ, say which one the poem should commit to, and what would have to be cut for that to happen. Poem:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
- Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
- If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.
Honest critique. Reads that name the weakest line, the stale image, and what the poem is actually about.
Related prompts
Critique this poem with no praise at allWhen you want an honest read and not a compliment sandwich.Find the clichés I've stopped noticingA read-through for stale images before you send a poem anywhere.Check which ambiguities are workingWhen you're not sure whether a line is rich or just unclear.Is this image a cliche?Checking one image before you build a whole poem on it.What is this poem actually about?The draft is circling something you have not admitted yet.Fast critique, no praiseYou want an honest read and not a compliment sandwich.
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