I prefer her stories. The most dominant technique that she employs here is repetition. Nearly half the poems irregularly repeat. In particular the final line repeats an earlier one. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that per se, but I think here it's over-used
p. | phrase | freq |
9 | city lilies | 3 |
10 | cross[ing] the [long] field | 4 |
11 | for the | 10 |
12 | Don't count John | 4 |
13 | the other side of the sky's dark room | 3 |
14 | the flowers that | 3 |
15 | The grey lilo | 4 |
17 | if you were | 5 |
21 | weary of blossoming | 2 |
24 | glad of these/my times | 5 |
27 | are made from the dust of stars | 3 |
28 | the lovely bulb of your roundness | 2 |
30 | you could use his wing as a fan | 2 |
32 | [we heard] dolphins whistling | 7 |
35 | Surely it's not too much to ask | 2 |
37 | on our raft | 2 |
38 | Wall is the [holy] book | 3 |
42 | through the world's cold | 2 |
48 | I dreamed [that] my love | 4 |
54 | a wash of stars | 2 |
55 | the moon [as it] voyages | 3 |
It's no coincidence that many of these repeated phrases involve flowers and night skies - they're common themes. I most like "Violets" (a stanza too long), 'Indeed we are all made from the dust of stars', and "Lemon and Stars"
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