Mark Andrew Hislop's E-Mail Address: mark_hislop@hotmail.com


Mark Andrew Hislop's Profile:
Yes, well ...

So far 709 People have Entered a Personal Profile on The Poetic Link! Click Here to see the rest of them or to Add your Own Personal Profile Now!

Below you will see ALL of the Critiques that Mark Andrew Hislop has given on The Poetic Link.
By Clicking a Poem Title, you can view the poem that is associated with each Critique.


If you would like to view all of Mark Andrew Hislop's Poetry just Click Here.

Poetry Contests Online at The Poetic Link

Click HERE to return to ThePoeticLink.com Database Page!

Displaying Critiques 1 to 50 out of 245 Total Critiques.
Click one of the following to display the: Next 50 ... Last 50 Critiques.

Poem TitlePoet NameCritique Given by Mark Andrew HislopCritique Date
The Four GuardiansJames C. HorakJCH What gives? Who lost their jobs, where's the press about this? Are you seriously suggesting Obama wants to be El President para la Eternidad? You've got my (albeit limited) attention. MAH2013-11-06 06:52:09
The Local PhariseesMark Steven SchefferMSS I'm the worst of friends, the worst of readers. This is the first of yours I've read since...well, since last time :-) But I'm reading it thinking "I don't know who this is specifically about, but if MSS is cussin' their overfed asses, I am too." I just killed a mosquito. Bully for me :-) MAH2013-11-06 06:45:06
Same OldMark Steven SchefferMSS This reminds me of Frida Kahlo..."I hope the exit is joyful — and I hope never to return". The anti-poem meets the anti-crit. There's something of the anti-poem sentiment that hangs over coming back to TPL...the poem could be an emblem of the place, and the (doubtless) morbid fascination found in watching it disappear. We have come and gone so many times. One day the departure will be final. But not today. Nice to seee you/read you again. MAH2013-08-02 04:09:55
AnonymouslyMark Steven SchefferMSS Your voice is not profane. So keep singing. MAH2012-07-16 02:22:12
Unraveledcheyenne smythDear Chey It seems you and I are writing from parallel universes in our most recent posts...except where I end mine with a sense of resignation, you end with slightly more of an active sense of hope... ...and guess that's why I like this :-) Best wishes Mark2012-06-09 22:03:43
Crappy days are here againHoward D. PalmerDear Howard It's funny, isn't it, that we sometimes look back on the so-called dark ages of mankind thinking it was all very nasty, brutish and undemocratic back then. But it's every bit as bad now :-( Mark2012-03-07 19:12:25
As the World Churns..or...Caveman CrossingEllen K LewisDear Ellen This is a nicely philosophical piece...zen-like, but with a Christian after-burn: "mankind...clinging to his soiled self". "I have met the enemy and he is Us." :-) Mark2012-03-07 19:10:28
Catching the MomentDellena RovitoDear Dellena This a fun one...an ordinary moment, nicely magnified. I can feel my stomach churning :-) Mark2012-03-07 19:03:23
Running on EmptyDeniMari Z.Dear Deni It's a sorry state, to be sure... "just to hear sound that matters" in this society...we'll be waiting a very long time. Mark2012-03-07 19:02:06
Painter’s SocietyLora SilveyDear Lora [Before the poem, a question: would you consider using a different font for your poems ... Times New Roman or Goudy Old Style, perhaps? It will add more "weight" :-) ] ...and this IS a weighty poem. It has echoes of the Lord of the Rings to it ... One Ring to rule them all. I was going to offer my read on what this could be referring to, but what's the point? It covers a multitude of sins, and strongly. Best wishes, Mark.2012-03-04 19:43:04
Petals and ParchmentLora SilveyDear Lora Some nice moments here. In the context of the overall poem, "The stonecutter etches deeply/the memberance of life’s full circle with/a dispassionate precision" really stands out to me. In fact, "dispassion" is probably the key word for the whole poem. It is detached without being aloof, moved without being shattered... ...a nice tone throughout. Best wishes Mark. 2012-03-04 19:29:31
Cedar Swingcheyenne smythDear Chey I like "I close my eyes hoping/for a clear memory/of the day/hung it there" ... it's like a suspended chord at the end of a song, fixing one's attention on waiting for an end that doesn't come ... except that it IS the end :-) Nice one. Mark. 2012-03-04 19:12:55
Carnival GlassDellena RovitoDear Dellena It's a nice dual movement you've got going on here. It's almost possible to read three separate poems here: the left one, the right one, and that one made by splicing them together ... almost like getting three views of the same scene. The poem is as playful as its subject :-) Best wishes Mark.2012-03-04 19:04:27
May I Have This Romance?Ellen K LewisDear Ellen I like the sense here of an old couple who are as in love now as they were when they were young... ...a state for us all to aspire to, don't you think? Best wishes, Mark.2012-03-04 18:59:51
Under Your Spell (with correction)Lora SilveyDear Lora Your poems this month move from twinkle-eyed grandma to hormone-ravaged teenager...quite a range :-) I like the immediacy of this. Everyone knows the deal here... ...and the destination. Best wishes, Mark.2012-03-01 18:25:21
Saturday’s DelightLora SilveyDear Lora Makes me want to go back to my grandma ... :-) Mark.2012-03-01 18:20:53
Fighting Tearscheyenne smythDear Chey I'm in a maudlin mood this morning. That's why this poem reminds me of Khalil Gibran: "But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires ... To know the pain of too much tenderness." I guess you know the feeling :-) Mark.2012-03-01 18:19:30
Who's The Dog?DeniMari Z.Dear Deni The idea is neat and tidy in its presentation. But I'd love to see you do a bit more with the form, here. Best wishes, Mark.2012-03-01 18:15:11
Ash Wednesday Black FaceMark Steven SchefferMSS It may jingle. But it's loud and clear. And no-one mistakes you for the village idiot. MAH2012-02-24 13:32:36
WonderingDellena RovitoDear Dellena I thought I caught the reference! But irrespective of that...this is a profound, philosophical piece. I caught myself thinking as I read this "The real question is...why do we give a SHIT about these questions??" Yet we do. Can you imagine a world we where didn't ask? "cause we never really have been"...that really is the clincher. There is NO objective evidence that we actually exist, you know! But truly, I really enjoyed this. I was caught and carried along from the first stanza. Mark2012-02-22 03:56:40
Candles Burn OutDeniMari Z.Dear Deni After pain, memory is the real curse :-( This is very tender... Best wishes, Mark2012-02-22 03:51:44
Time TravelMark Steven SchefferMSS So "everything was pure/holy" but "the future lost/its edge: we had/been there/today"? Does it get any more dire? MAH 2012-02-12 18:47:42
Undiscoveredcheyenne smythDear Chey Don't you feel it when you're at the source? This entire poem say: Yes, you do. This is sublime. Mark.2012-02-10 19:32:35
Tombstonescheyenne smythDear Chey You know I only say these things because I love you... S1 is a brilliant set up...the mood, the tone, the imagery... it rocks :-). S2 dips a little, but S3 recovers the lost ground. Finally, S4 and S5 (particularly) are ... droopy. Almost like you were in such a hurry to get out of the graveyard that you dropped your shovel. What I'm saying here is that I think you've done at the 'stanza level' in this poem what I bitched about you doing at the 'word level' in "The Lagoon". I'll be blunt: I think you get lazy sometimes :-) (though it's probably unfair of me to judge others by my own low standards!!) Seriously, S1 and S3 are the standouts here. I love the premise of the poem. It reminded me of "The Myth of the Grave" by John Kinsella: http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/kinsella-john/the-myth-of-the-grave-0527012# Best best wishes, Mark xx2012-02-08 19:03:01
i woke up and read keatsMark Steven SchefferMSS I'm guessing she's younger than you are. Explains the adolescent fantasy overtones here :-) "Let them go"? Don't flatter yourself: they were always gonna leave. MAH2012-02-08 18:42:32
TimingDellena RovitoDear Dellena I've read this one several times, trying to get a fix on my response to it. While I like it, I think overall it just doesn't quite come together for me :-( Sorry. E.g. in the first stanza: "Babies are born one upon another/Yet troubled earth is fixed to blow/With unease suffers the mothers". The first image makes me think of a "pile of babies", which is probably NOT what you're after. Further on, because I'm so anal, I go looking for punctuation to help me grasp this, but there's no such help...and the lack of noun/verb agreement (either "suffers the mother" or "suffer the mothers", NOT "suffers the mothers") is confusing. I guess all I'm really saying is that this one doesn't seem to have the flow you usually achieve. Best wishes, Mark.2012-02-07 20:43:47
The Lagooncheyenne smythDear Chey Lovely vignette ... lovely memory-snapshot of a beautiful moment. It feels to me like it has a background of sadness to it that it actually probably doesn't...but that's just me reading things into it :-) One thing frustrates me about you. It's that on the one hand, you'll often use (what's a kind word for it?) tired expressions like "gossamer lace", but then trot out something like "honeyed lips caressed my smile" that shines and captures attention like an unexpected firefly. I want more of your fireflies, honey. :-) Mark.2012-02-07 20:29:06
Money TrainDeniMari Z.Dear Deni I enjoyed this. It's a very restrained and polite complaint about the way things are, but makes the point firmly. Neat. Best wishes, Mark.2012-02-07 20:22:17
Visiting the Old BlogMark Steven SchefferMSS Mmmmmmm......smoked butt. My favourite. MAH2012-02-07 19:52:58
Missed Tearcheyenne smythChey Some lovely moments in here, My fave: "wept anew/as it came back to me/unopened". Mark xx2012-02-07 19:51:44
On a Piano Bench in SunlightMark Steven SchefferMSS What IS this hideously subjective business? It's a JCH quote, it's a mug's game. I'm so stuck on "I was there", it's not even funny. MAH2012-02-06 19:38:44
...And You're InvitedSteve A Van AllenDear Steve She should be delighted. Especially because you're still courting her even AFTER you're married. :-) Best wishes Mark.2012-02-06 19:35:29
Cold (age’s shimmer)Lora SilveyDear Lora The chill blows through every word in this. You sustain the pitch throughout really well. The ending in particular "so hands can no longer button or tie knots/just as feet now move only to wavering gate" ... is so stark, it's heartwrenching. One of the best of yours that I've read. Best wishes, Mark.2012-02-06 19:12:41
Jewels Gleamcheyenne smythDear Chey I think the clue for me here was "And fills my inkless pen with words again"... ...this one seems like the kind of poem you write to prime yourself for what's to follow :-) An exercise. This one doesn't have your usual kind of flow, baby. Mark.2012-02-06 17:57:44
Not a poem DON'T VOTE ON THISJames C. HorakJCH "No honest poet can ever feel quite sure of the permanent value of what he has written." I always knew it: all I have to do is put a big enough chip on my shoulder, and I'll be admitted to The Guild :-) MAH2012-02-06 00:28:21
WishingKimberly D Rowe-Van AllenDear Kimberley The heartache is all too evident in this one. Who hasn't felt this? I particularly liked your variations in the last three stanzas. The contrast was nicely set up by the pattern you established through the first eight stanzas...which were a kind of left/right/left/right trudging through emotions that represent the last things on earth you would really want to be feeling. Best wishes, Mark.2012-02-06 00:13:33
FriendshipsKay C StewardDear Kay There's no doubt you've caught the major elements of friendships here, and your tone is nicely consistent throughout. I think one of the dangers, though, in acrostic poems is the tendency towards "bitty-ness", i.e. a handful of "one-line thoughts", and I don't think you've competely avoided it here. For example: "In our life time; life line/Easy, taking our time" looks at first like an enjambed line...except that it's not. As a result, although the individual lines - when read separately - are fitting, as currently presented they don't seem to me to flow as gently as perhaps they could. Punctuation would probably do a lot to fix this throughout. Best wishes, Mark. 2012-02-06 00:05:48
Seek Escapecheyenne smythDear Cheyenne Now there's one that speaks to the wound in us all :-) Makes me want to reach for my opium pipe and check out for once and for all. It does hit precisely on a raw nerve...at least for me, at least today. The word "snicker" grated a little, however, even though it gives the sense of dreams mocking us as they vanish ... so I know what you mean. Best wishes, Mark.2012-02-05 23:52:48
John 3:5Mark Steven SchefferMSS You're a John Donne for the 21st century. I say that because it seems to me that this is fiery, ignited. Heathen that I am, you moved me with this. Sustained power here. But beyond that fleeting aberration, don't get your hopes up, sonny. Some of us are beyond redemption :) MAH2011-09-04 22:16:58
Ocher Leavescheyenne smythChey THE line of this piece is "I'll send the breath you need to journey on". I'd say in that one line is the springboard to your future writing, because: * it's visionary: it senses and communicates more than it "says" * it's universal: everyone can access it * it's original: fresh, fresh, fresh * it's apoetic: there is no sense of it being written "to be poetic". This is a badge of honour. * it's essential: i.e. essential to and of YOU. I single this line out because in my view it stands far above every other line in the poem. But it's not enough to raise the raise the rest of the poem up to its level. That's YOUR job :) Go to it. Mark2010-10-30 21:10:12
The Cost of LifeMandie J OverockerDear Mandie This is a lament, indeed, and a powerful one ... though I found "razor's edge" and "mirrored lies" a bit clunky. Very moving. Best wishes, Mark2010-10-30 20:56:54
Serenitycheyenne smythChey I like how you've sustained the mood through this ... not as if you don't do that with your other poems ... I guess what I'm saying is not just that I like how you've sustained the mood, but also the choice of mood to sustain. I actually feel refreshed as I read it. Mark2010-10-30 20:06:31
This Maskcheyenne smythHello Cheyenne Looks like we've been reading from the same book... I can feel this one. Best wishes, Mark2010-10-30 05:56:17
Life's SentenceThomas Edward WrightTEW It always SEEMS easy. Twerp. MAH P.S. And this is an example of why it seems.2010-03-06 03:51:19
I Want to See Their Face Before...James C. HorakJCH This is the poem of the month, as far as I'm concerned. It's also the best of yours I've seen in some time. It is a poem of raw clarity. Yes. I like. MAH2010-03-01 03:51:21
To A Muse, WhoThomas Edward WrightTEW What happened, Heracles? Lose a drinking contest with Dionysus? I think I'll console myself with a nymph. Nymphs are SO last week. MAH 2010-02-28 14:51:55
Point Road SnowThomas Edward WrightTEW I dunno. Those peat fires are awfully smelly. The last story I told encouraged a whole bunch of people to go West. And look what happened to THEM. And you reckon YOU shivered. MAH2010-02-24 11:10:28
My Quillcheyenne smythDear Cheyenne This is a much clearer show of your capability. The fact that it's cross-rhymed iambic pentameter is NOT what makes it better. It's that it is clear you had to work at this to get it sounding right. "the trees are stark as ships without their sail" is damn good, as good an image as I've seen lately. Mind you, there are a couple of spots that still need some elbow-grease: "when poets paint with words in grand detail" is, again, too easy. As Billy Connolly would say, it's beige. Also, the rhythm is a bit wrenched, too. Overall though I like it. I'd suggest though that you broaden your rhythmic palette a bit. Strict iambic pentameter carried on for too long starts to feel like a jackhammer outside your door on a Sunday morning. Try substituting some other feet every now and then for variation. Best wishes Mark2010-02-24 03:55:20
Fire GazerDellena RovitoDear Dellena A great improvement! Best wishes, Mark2010-02-24 03:39:48
February Contest ResultsJames C. HorakJCH I've weakened. I'm going to resubmit. What the hell! MAH2010-02-24 03:27:57
Poem TitlePoet NameCritique Given by Mark Andrew HislopCritique Date

Displaying Critiques 1 to 50 out of 245 Total Critiques.
Click one of the following to display the: Next 50 ... Last 50 Critiques.

If you would like to view all of Mark Andrew Hislop's Poetry just Click Here.

Poetry Contests Online at The Poetic Link

Click HERE to return to ThePoeticLink.com Database Page!