Elizabeth Rose Murray

Archive for the ‘poetry critique’ Category

Magnitude II In a lesson on trying to make the abstract more concrete, one of my students, a Guyanese boy, late teens, shares a draft in which he’s counting the breaths of his sleeping girlfriend. He’s met her father, shook his hand – weeks later, the girl explains that her Akan blood arrows back up [...]

First, read the poem Sisters by Pauline Plummer. Now enjoy the critique: The poem Sisters is a poem that would touch most modern women, with echoes of Sapphic lyrical poetry. It is a poem about female identity and addresses the role of self in everyday life. The vibrant opening line Let’s get drunk, my women [...]

Magnitude* I There are a million grains in a 20 kilogram sack of rice. Give or take. It’s a hard enough number to imagine, the kind that slips through the mind’s fingers, like digging your hands in that same sack, trying to feel for individuals; the kind of counting that surpasses fingers, bigger than the [...]

In Touch* That ocean divides. Yet the yeasts on my toes have stowed away on yours – at the heel   of a day crammed with doings, shoe-snug, they waft up to you our distinctive tang.   There’s a suspicion in the breath I catch single-handed, just after brushing my teeth,   of that must [...]

The latest edition to my critique site is the poem “Sisters” by northern poet Pauline Plummer. A sad yet comic look at the life of modern women, Sisters has  Sapphic overtones and  is laced with dark wit.  Go see for yourself! Tweet This Post

The second part of Magnitude scales the same important themes from a global perspective to the situation/experience of one person. The second part increases the impact and the message. Read the review Part II to get to grips with some fantastic and important current day poetry. Tweet This Post

My review of the first part of Magnitude by Jacob Sam-La Rose, commissioned by the Arts Council, England, can be read here. A fascinating insight into the struggle to understand the vast scale of the slave trade and forced migration of African people, it´s well worth a read. Interested and want to hear Jacob performing [...]

Despite a busy schedule, Mario Petrucci was kind enough to comment on my review of his poem “In Touch”. Mario is a man I admire; he writes with unlimited enthusiasm, wit and sensitivity. You can read my critique and what Mario wrote about my critique here. Tweet This Post

To enhance my resolution to read more poetry, I have created the Elizabeth Rose: poetry critique blog. To kick start this, Mario Petrucci´s In Touch has been the focus of my attentions; a modern day rhetoric on the ancient concept of eros using foot fungus as a focus. Intrigued? Then read it. Tweet This Post