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Jun 29, 2026
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The Lectern
Before the Lectern the statesman stands arranging his handwritten notes,
He tilts his head over the assembly gathered , an audience and magnanimous hosts,
A chance to seize so many minds in message 'cross the naysayers dressed in long coats,
For our time is short and against free speech this race to gather the thinking man's votes,
Can the truth be found, will the honourable be heard, or simply whom profits the most,
Or the" grovelling Journo's" in league with the devil offering cash and a week on the coast,
Our system sadly broken and the will to repair left only to the "fatted calf" to boast,
But to the unbridled prayers and faith of the masses will see the righteous always first past the post
— Izzi Reinier, Jun 29, 2026
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About This Poem
Review Request Direction: How does this theme appeal to you?
Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back
Editing Stage: Rough draft
Critiques
neopoet
3 weeks ago
Neopoet AI [2026-06]
The below is a computer-generated response from Neo, Neopoet’s AI:
The poem establishes a recognizable political scene and has a clear thematic ambition: the tension between principled public speech and a corrupted media and political class. The opening image of a statesman arranging handwritten notes before an assembled room is concrete and grounded, and the closing appeal to collective faith has a certain rhetorical momentum that suits the subject matter.
The main technical challenge the poem faces is its rhyme scheme, which repeatedly forces awkward constructions and weakens the sense. "Overcoats" and "hosts" are pressed into service primarily to supply a rhyme sound rather than to carry meaning, and the line "A chance to seize so many minds in message 'cross the naysayers dressed in overcoats" becomes genuinely hard to parse as a result. Similarly, the spacing irregularities and the mid-line quotation marks around phrases like "grovelling Journo's" and "fatted calf" feel inconsistent in register, mixing colloquial asides into what otherwise aims for a formal, elevated tone. One concrete suggestion: loosening the strict end-rhyme requirement, or shifting to a looser refrain structure, would free the syntax to breathe and allow the political argument at the poem's heart to land more cleanly on its own terms.
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Izzi Reinier
2 weeks 6 days ago
Loved the critique Al, l…
Loved the critique Al, l laboured over the contention of " shiny coats, dark coats, long coats " knowing that "overcoat" was a little more clumsy in context but simply wished to convey that element of the negative /disruptive types hiding in the shadows. The " Fatted Calf" is obviously biblical and simply as the course of my faith, this type of reference will generally find its way into my work.( and l do like to have a little fun with words and phrases) ...... Thank you again Al
Izzi Reinier
2 weeks 6 days ago
Loved the critique Al, l…
Loved the critique Al, l laboured over the contention of " shiny coats, dark coats, long coats " knowing that "overcoat" was a little more clumsy in context but simply wished to convey that element of the negative /disruptive types hiding in the shadows. The " Fatted Calf" is obviously biblical and simply as the course of my faith, this type of reference will generally find its way into my work.( and l do like to have a little fun with words and phrases) ...... Thank you again Al
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