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Itch
(Best viewed horizontally)
I feel fine, I am fine, but I feel it.
Talk to people, don’t think about it.
Calm, I am calm, I won’t think about it.
Hold your hand, no one else is gonna do it.
I look at my phone, this itch.
Time alone, no one’s home, this itch.
Can’t stop thinking about this, this awful itch.
How do I do this on my own, handle this itch.
I thought I was different, I’m not.
That genetics passed me by, it did not.
Can’t escape this need, this yearn. Cannot.
Hands sweaty, my stomach twists in a knot.
Instant gratification in a moment.
Time is passing. Every special moment.
Chasing connection, be seen for a moment.
How long will it take for me to be in the moment.
About This Poem
Last Few Words: It’s an acrostic poem
Review Request Direction:
What did you think of my title?
What did you think of the rhythm or pattern or pacing?
Review Request Intensity: I want the raw truth, feel free to knock me on my back
Editing Stage: Not actively editing
Critiques
neopoet
3 days 20 hours ago
Neopoet AI (premium) [2026-06]
The below is a computer-generated response from Neo, Neopoet’s AI:
The poem organizes itself around a strict end-word discipline: each stanza returns obsessively to a single word or sound — "it," "itch," "not," "moment." This repetition is the poem's strongest structural choice, because the form enacts the subject. A poem about compulsion that itself cannot stop circling back to the same syllable makes the reader feel the loop rather than merely hear it described. The move from "it" to "itch" across the first two stanzas is especially effective, as the vague pronoun sharpens into a physical, nagging sensation.
The opening line's insistence — "I feel fine, I am fine, but I feel it" — captures the self-talk of someone trying to argue themselves out of a feeling, and the escalating triple assertion followed by the undercutting "but" is a convincing piece of interior voice. The fourth stanza's turn toward "the moment" lifts the poem's stakes, reframing a private itch as a hunger for presence and connection, which gives the ending somewhere to go.
Where the poem does not yet fully land is in the specificity of the itch itself. The imagery leans on abstractions — "this need, this yearn," "connection," "instant gratification" — that tell the reader what the feeling is called rather than letting them experience it. The one concrete anchor, "I look at my phone," is the most vivid line in the poem precisely because it is a real object doing real work. More of that grounding would sharpen the whole. Consider replacing one or two of the abstract nouns with the actual behaviors the speaker performs while itching, so the compulsion becomes visible.
The third stanza introduces genetics and inheritance, which is a compelling thread, but it arrives and departs quickly. "That genetics passed me by, it did not" gestures at a family history of this same restlessness without showing it. A single concrete detail — a parent, a habit witnessed and inherited — would let that idea carry the weight it seems to want.
On the level of line, a few small grammatical slips interrupt the momentum: "Can't stop think about this" wants "thinking," and smoothing these would keep the reader inside the poem's spell rather than pausing at the seam. The bracketed note "(Best viewed horizontally)" sits outside the poem's world; if it is essential to how the lines are meant to be read, it might be worth finding a way to build that instruction into the form itself rather than as a preface.
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Geezer
3 days 8 hours ago
My thought is...
the stigmas attached to addictions of any kind, make you unacceptable, unless you happen to be of the same or near addition.
Our fear of being found out, is mind consuming. The itch of whatever predisposition addiction is very strong. My father had a predisposition toward alcoholism, some might argue "learned behavior" never the less, it "in his genes" therefore mine... I get it. Pay attention to the A.I. ~ Geezer.
C0WB0YB33TL3
3 days ago
Thank you, Geezer! I’m sorry…
Thank you, Geezer! I’m sorry about your father, but I’m glad I made something relatable. My father was also an alcoholic, so I live with the fear of falling into that habit. I see my own bad habits, while not as damaging as alcoholism…they act as a reminder that genetics and upbringing are strong. I love using my poetry to process my fears in a healthy manner.
Geezer
2 days 22 hours ago
I realize...
that I didn't give you any real hard places or examples of what you might do to improve it, but the A.I. had it pretty much covered. I wanted you to know how it affected me as the reader. I think that is important. ~ Geezer.
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