[Maryann Corbett]

Cassandra

I kept telling myself
this would happen.

But I didn’t believe it.

[Petra Norr]

Yes, well, it sounds like an ordinary gal talking but in fact it's Cassandra. So it's a cute little joke. But wait a minute: wan't it actually others who didn't believe her prophecies, whereas Cassandra herself did believe them? So isn't the whole thing slightly off, or downright incorrect? Or are we supposed to see Cassandra as reacting in a way any ordinary gal would (to show that she WAS an ordinary gal as well as being a tragic figure, enabling us to empathize with her). There are different ways to see this, but in the end it still feels like a cute joke. And that's about it.

[R. Nemo Hill]

I guess I'm kind of with Petra on this one. Under closer scrutiny (which a poem this short can't avoid) the psychological misreading of the prophecy conundrum of the Cassandra complex seems a fatal flaw. The three lines evoke a quick "Ha!" followed by a deflating "But..."

Nemo

[Catherine Chandler]

Cute? Yes. Poetry? Dunno.

[Carol Taylor]

Thought provoking briefly while while I'm figuring out who's speaking. Putting the household cliche in Cassandra's mouth indicates that a person may doubt his own gifts, but that's not enough to make this a poem, in my opinion.

Carol

[Andrew Frisardi]

What the other posters have said. The conversational tone of this piece places it in the personal psychology of the speaker, whose name apparently is Cassandra and whose reflection doesn't shed any new light on either the Cassandra myth or common personal experience. So it ends up being light verse that isn't witty enough to be memorable.

[David Rosenthal]

I don't think the intent is that this is actually Cassandra, and I am willing to let mythical accuracy be relaxed. That said, this still seems pretty slight. I fact, I have heard people say this, or things very close to it, as a joking remark in ordinary daily life -- I have done so myself. It doesn't seem to me to be all that funny, all that profound, or all that original. If the title is indeed supposed to connect the poem to some insight about the myth, I don't think there is much insight there. Sorry.

David R.

[Roger Slater]

I see what people are saying, but I do think this would be a reasonably successful poem in a different context, as part of a book or magazine. The problem is, it is one of six poems selected from eighty submissions and put forward as exemplary of the potential power of short poems. We are coming to it expecting more than it delivers, but the poem itself doesn't ask us to expect more or overshoot its own mark, so I don't blame the poet but offer a tip of the hat for a cute and witty (very) little poem.

[wendy v]

Cassandra

I kept telling myself
this would happen.

But I didn’t believe it.

--


Just plain ol’ refreshing. Reminds me of Wendy Cope in deadpan mode. Beyond the chuckle, there’s a little reminder we need not be Cassandras to have cultivated our own intuition -- or dismiss at our peril. Or simply doubt ourselves because others do. And of course I’m a sucker for a title making a poem, and the embedding of the clever in a low-key tone. This one may not appear to some readers a worthy poem for inclusion, but it is a funny thing – and yes, complete -- and this alone made it unique among its competition. It strikes just the right note for itself. If it were mine I’d try to give it a little rhythmic swing, and be pleased enough to have written it.

[Maryann Corbett]

Ack--I've just restored the missing inter-stanza space above, which does make a difference in the poem's sense of pacing, a difference that's especially important where pacing is one of so few and small elements.

Apologies for the troubles caused by my e-mail program, which introduces spaces that I carefully remove, sometimes overdoing it.