Hello Harry ! How are you doing today? I’m Charlie and I’m reviewing on behalf of "a very Wodehouse challenge" . Part of my challenge involves making a “magazine” featuring manly men items. I’ve selected your poem to feature because it’s in the men’s genre. Thanks for sharing with us!


Title/General Thoughts/Subject Matter: I guess this challenge comes at a good time with Father's Day being yesterday and all. I think the topic of this poem is important because too often men are made to feel as though they shouldn't show any emotion. I don't think it's right to make people feel bad about getting upset, especially in a situation like the one presented in this poem where getting upset is the appropriate response.


What Worked: My favorite part of the poem was the distraction in the beginning of the man working on his carpentry project. It was great because it was a distraction for the reader as much as it was for the man in the poem. He was upset about his loss, but instead of showing it, he was throwing himself into a woodworking project. I also love how at the end, his wife let him know that it was okay to cry, and he did then. It's important to release bottled up emotions that way.

My favorite stanza in the poem was the fourth where the loss is explained. I thought it held a lot of emotional weight and it also had the best flow, in my opinion.


Technical Issues/Suggestions: I'm not much for rhyming poetry. All I can tell with it is when it flows well and when there are some hiccups. In this poem, I thought it the rhythm was smooth for the most part, but there were a couple parts where the lines were just a beat too long to flow well in the rhyme. The most noticeable to me were these lines from the first stanza:

turning it in his time-learned, expert way
...
not be held back this tragic day

It seemed to me that the second of the two was just a beat or two short of flowing well with the first of the lines.


Final Thoughts: Overall, I enjoyed reading this poem. I think it will make a great addition for my fictional men's magazine debut. Thanks again for sharing with us!


Best wishes,





My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .