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142,477 Literary Works • 678,014 Reviews
Hello
I was drawn to the imagery in your poetry and began imagining how its emotions could unfold visually from one verse to the next. Rather than limiting the idea to a single illustration, I would love to explore turning your poem into a connected visual journey that develops alongside your words.
I’m a professional commission-based artist, and I create custom paid illustrations inspired by writers’ original work. Each section of your poem could inspire a distinct scene while maintaining a consistent artistic style and atmosphere throughout the project.
If you would like to explore this idea, I would be happy to discuss your vision, share examples of my previous work, and consider an approach that fits your budget.
Discord: inksbyeve
Instagram: @inkkfinity
Best wishes,
Eve
Oh wow!
This is something. I was about to go off, but one more.
This is quite a piece. I particularly like how you explore the relationship between humanity, creation, and our seemingly endless pursuit of something beyond ourselves.
The opening caught my attention, especially the idea of refolding life into a fully wrapped giving. There's something interesting about the relationship between creation and language here, almost as though you're attempting to recreate the world through words and your own hands, or something along those lines.
I also found the distinction between being human and being humane quite intriguing. The lines about failing at being Human because we couldn't be more than humane introduce an interesting contradiction (and contradictions, I love them; they intrigue me), one that I would have loved to see explored a little further.
The latter part, particularly the lines about goodness, was probably my favourite.
"I don't want to be the good example, but I want to be good too. Only if my goodness can be mine."
There's something quite personal and almost vulnerable about that admission. It raises an interesting question about whether goodness retains its meaning when it becomes something imposed on us, rather than something we freely choose and own.
One thing I'd be interested in seeing is a little more room for some of these ideas to breathe. I think allowing certain ideas to develop a little further could make their impact even greater. Just a thought, not a criticism.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed the philosophical direction of this piece, particularly its questioning of what it means to be human, and whether our pursuit of greatness sometimes comes at the expense of simply being human.
Or I might be wrong. You have your own interpretation in your head, and I'd love to hear it. It's ambiguous and striking that way.
If these are your words, all I can say is WOW.
hello!! i want to say i appreciate you taking the time to not only read my poem, but to give such a wonderful review that shows so much thought through your words. it makes me glad that someone thought this poem was meaningful enough to comment on it to the extend you have!
just quoting this to say Ugh literally same!!!!
its lovely to hear someone favors this part! i admit, i'd say that was the most vulnerable i was in this poem about my own relationship with creation & perfectionism for the sake of continuing on the commentary on "goodness" for creation.
completely understandable! pacing is a thing that tend to be hard for me to pin down when it comes to writing. this also being an entry for a contest did make me hesitant on how far i should've went, especially with the ambiguity probably making the poem more of a task to deal with. these themes & topics relate so much to current culture + my thinking + life that i think i am bound to touch on many of these topics again, so hopefully i will be able to expend on my thoughts (through other poetry)!
ah, don't doubt yourself! much of your thoughts were definitely on point about what i wanted to convey.
i think the only thing i'd want to add is that the themes of humanity and goodness connects to the condemnation of /criticism towards generative ai, which is what this poem is heavily based on as well. the poem basically conveys the idea that i believe deeply in that humanity's seeking out to be the greatest and achieve perfection, while what is considered "good" (and the drive to be perfect + the idea of success) is a construct, encourages people to use generative ai to mimic art for the sake of creating art (both the subject is and the process of making art) being palatable (which just happens to be what is considered "good" art, such as conventional beauty).
as an artist (who witness other artists' art being used for gen ai against their consent), it's not hard to see the pattern of ai taking away aspects that may be struck as "unappealing"--such as rough lines, shape language, or smoothing away art of characters to make them more conventionally beautiful--all that makes art perceived as "greater". the extreme pressure to make something great out of art, and long-lasted standard towards artists and idea of an artist, affects many artists (including me) into exhaustion. and for some artists, will make them more passive towards ai because it's faster for content. these standards constantly push more out of artists--labor, perfection & content, at the expense of genuine humanity that encourages to uplift generative ai over artists.
this is a really long reply but! excuse me if i may sound a little confusing and/or there are some mistakes, i'm rushing to take off somewhere, but also wanted to spend the time to give a reply!
Oh, now this makes even more sense! I particularly appreciate you taking the time to explain the thoughts behind the piece. Knowing that generative AI was at the centre of it adds another dimension to some of the things I picked up while reading. You know, I'm not perfect; I can't grasp everything!
I find the contradiction interesting: our pursuit of perfection and greatness, supposedly in the name of progress, gradually strips away the very imperfections that make human creation meaningful. There's something quite unsettling about technology being used to imitate human creativity while simultaneously devaluing the very people whose creativity makes that imitation possible. And I think the pressure to make everything more polished, appealing and commercially viable only makes matters worse.
Take me, for example. I write sometimes, and it comes out raw and scrappy. A little grammatical correction, and I'm good to go. I aim not for perfection but to be heard and felt. Besides, my words often flow quite naturally, and I wouldn't want to lose that in pursuit of perfection.
Thank you for sharing this with me, and please don't apologise for the long reply! I'm quite introverted myself, but I've somehow discovered that I can yap and yap, just not physically, you know, through articulation and expression. 😂
I enjoyed reading your thoughts just as much as I enjoyed the poem. I hope you get to explore these ideas further in your future pieces!
P.S Nothing was confusing.
text version:
/ let there be light! / i said like cropper of fields across paper
in words my tongue my hands refolding life into a fully-wrapped giving on
& on my desk, where a lamp isn't warm like a Sun but it oversees worlds
from my palms scarred with rivers unreadable, yet undoubtedly
profound in Human /
prescient in conception
our bare-bones are click &clacking frankly humane
endless big ideas. i screamed! overtaken by the drain burying
hard edges, blunt silhouettes, abstracted shapes our intricate love letters
down polluted water so we become vague imitation—what is revolution
if it ravages me into a soul, but the livelihood revolts out-of-body infliction
The Conspiracy is: We are in the way of beauty. That makes it beautiful
to undo bodies into production. You will be left behind in the mouth of
The future with no concern. We will fault you too Human for wanting your body
back. We failed at Human, because why couldn't We be more than humane.
many scholars have said a preacher was seen enough into Jesus
we exist man-made, hasn't that been enough for centuries?-
unless, on the condition our hands tied to your good eyes:
the ones that makes (what is/so feel/then be) good;
all that makes things real sanded into blessed red wine
for goodness
i don’t want to be the good example
but i want to be good too. only if
my goodness can be mines i think
maybe we were never meant to be the greatest.
Woww!