I don't have much to add to the excellent crits here--this is well-executed, but could be tweaked to even stronger effect. The penultimate line is rather a weak link ("attempting to replace", as has been pointed out, is rather pallid) and undermines the end, which should arrive with more speed. I like the unusual but strangely apt "churn"!
Edited in to say: I also like the very specific "Gordon Lightfoot" reference, with its own nod to the past, and wonder if more could be done with that--a snatch of song-lyric maybe instead of a girl in France?
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