Stricken

With awe.  Drawish's collection forcibly grabs me and takes me for quite the spin in his prose and verse poems.  I have only ever written a few prose poems and seem to struggle with being able to walk that high-wire with skill.  Darwish skips along that line giddily! He is specific enough to have me, a Western reader totally removed from the plight of the East, be able to fit into his skin and words.  I often have the problem where my poetry is too abstract for my readers--something goes missing from my head to my wrist.  Darwish has this quality to a degree, but it's endearing and I never once felt myself wishing he were more clear.  He was perfectly abstract.  Left plenty to the reader--a skill which must be worked on in my case.  Specific language--Darwish punches you in the gut just the right ways to get his beautiful vision across.  Where I feel like I'm wonderful with words and how they sound pretty together, Darwish combines that with meaning.  In retrospect, I feel as if my techniques sacrifice meaning.  I'd like to be able to combine both with finesse.