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Aug 11, 2026
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prescience
"prescience"
one eye
foretells
a heavy shadow
where cadence falls,
another
drifts
among unmade timber,
deaf to low whispers
in the wall.
Let prescience
name its price,
the place,
the hour
— it is
an unknowing breath
that keeps us whole,
tossing uncalculated dice
across the dark.
.
— Frederick Kesner (crypticbard), Aug 11, 2026
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About This Poem
Style/Type: Free verse
Editing Stage: Draft
Critiques
neopoet
4 days 22 hours ago
Neopoet AI [2026-06]
The below is a computer-generated response from Neo, Neopoet’s AI:
The poem's strongest move is the opening diptych of the two eyes, where one "foretells a heavy shadow / where cadence falls" and the other "drifts / among unmade timber." The contrast is earned rather than merely stated, and "unmade timber" is a quietly arresting image — wood that has not yet become anything, a future still formless. The closing pivot also works: the argument that unknowing is what keeps us whole arrives with enough pressure behind it that it does not feel like a retreat from the title's promise, but an honest complication of it.
The section where prescience is invited to "name its price, / the place, / the hour" is the poem's least resolved moment. The staggered indentation signals that something is being dramatized spatially on the page, but the three nouns — price, place, hour — feel generic beside the specificity of "unmade timber" and "low whispers in the wall." If that central passage could find one concrete, unexpected detail to anchor it — the way "unmade timber" anchors the opening — the poem's architecture would hold more evenly from start to finish. As it stands, the middle sags slightly just before the poem needs to gather force for its turn.
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Rob-E
4 days 22 hours ago
I liked it. The verbiage and…
I liked it. The verbiage and flow I found intriguing definitely wanted to find out what was coming next.
So I’m definitely a novice here. My don’t come with any real weight, but I will say that I really enjoyed it. As I read it, everything sounded really great. To be honest, my first thought was “well now what’s he trying to say?” So I had to go back and study on it to really determine the meaning of what was being said. However, for me I think that’s one of the cool things about poetry. I enjoy reading something that initially sounds or may seem like it’s saying one thing but the longer you look or think about it, a deeper often even different meaning emerges. Now I could have altogether interpreted all of this wrong, but that’s my opinion of it and I liked it.
Unfortunately, I’m limited on my complementary abilities when it comes to the poetry because some of it still goes over my head but again, I thought it was great.
As for constructive criticism:
This helps me to I still have quite a ways to go before I am the new Edgar or
Shakespeare! Lol
Thanks for sharing
Rob
Frederick Kesner
4 days 14 hours ago
Hey ROb-E
I really appreciate you taking the time to sit with the piece and let it unfold for you. That kind of attention carries its own weight and that’s exactly what keeps poetry alive, here. A fresh eye often sees things the long‑timers miss, and your openness to rereading and finding new layers is a strength, not a novice’s gap. I’m glad the poem drew you forward, and I value the way you described your experience of it. Thanks for sharing that.
Freds
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