I like this piece. and i agree... Kafka's.... odd.

--
Idea full of all I understand:
An idea of the perfect world.
So similar to nothing
With no thought to complete it
An unfinished idea sits on a page.

!to say the least

Haha...i LOVE kafka and I also LOVE this poem. The title is great and is certainly what attracted me to the piece after I came across your gallery. It has a great rhythm and great imagery:

who slept outside in a cardboard box
underneath the 110 freeway
in downtown Los Angeles with the rest of his
former existentialists


(love that part). Althoguh I am a Kafka fan he is always great to poke fun at. I dont know if it was intentional or not but the poem ironically manages to grasp onto some kafka-like cynicism. That definitely brought your words full-circle for me and added a whole new dimension to your well-worded rant.

In any case I had a smile on my face througout the piece and I was glad that you were able to keep it sharp and biting throughout. My one piece of constructive criticism would be to cut the final line of the poem. It kind of pulled out of the voice you created in the rest of the piece and was an unneeded summing up of what you already did a magnificent job showing us throughout the poem. In any case you are a great writer and I totally respect your artistic choices...that is just my two cents that you can take for what you will.

Thanks for a fun and well-written read.

--
"I saved Latin - what did you ever do?"

Wow, thank you for a wonderful comment! I like think if I had picked Kafka on my own, I would have enjoyed him more. But the English teachers threw him at me before I got a chance to even read the backs of his books at the library, and it was all downhill from there. That's part of the reason why I put the last line there.

At any rate, your suggestion is well noted; it does seem rather out-of-place. I'm glad to make you smile!

haha don't worry - i haven't forgotten what honors high school english can do to a man...OR WOMAN.

I had a similar experience with Shakespeare...they make you almost WANT to hate the authors they have you read (especially me who is extremely stubborn)...As it stands now I can't get enough Shakespeare.

--
"I saved Latin - what did you ever do?"

Trueness!

Can't beat ~harmful particle's comment, not add to or subtract from it ... soooo I'll simply agree ... an entertaining and fun read indeed.

--
Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
~ Samuel Beckett ~

thank you!

this is blasphemy. i thought Kafka is God with a capital K. He taught me to be comfortable with many unanswered questions. You know when you watch a movie, read a story, it has a plot, a rationale, a logic and you know if you read a few more pages, or wait another half an hour you will understand why things happened. Now in real life this does not happen. actions have consequneces that are not related, new scenarios develop, some things just fade away and there is no final conclusion. Kafka teaches you all this. the sheer dredgery, the weight of time. i think european novelists are awesome, kafka, doestovsky, they stand way up there with shakespeare.

I wholly agree with you; I know Kafka is classic. I, too, enjoy eastern European writers. Take another look at the poem and try to look beyond any criticism you see of Kafka. I'm criticizing the way Kafka is introduced in the school system. I appreciate your take on Kafka.