Rosemarie M.J. Yusen writes what might loosely be termed prose poems, except that they aren't shaped as carefully as, say, a prose poem by Robert Haas, and instead seem closer to free writing, putting down whatever comes to her head.

Free writing can be a great way to come up with creative ideas from which to shape a poem, but by themselves, they're just rambling monologues, often too obscure for a reader to understand.

When she's at her best, Yusen makes effective use of humor, such as in "For My Most Generous Beneficiary," a poem to her brother, thanking him ironically for "never lending me a penny / And taking mine for giving me a free ride home." She could develop this sense of humor for effect in future poems.

Another sign of potential shows in her childlike glee in writing and her inventiveness, such as in the love poem, "You Are," where she compares her beloved to food: "You are so hot in my chocolate / You are much spice on my sausage / You are the sweetest of my teeth." In further poems, she could channel this creative energy to explore language and meaning.

But as these prose poems, or free writings, stand they need shaping. Too often, they lapse into obscure metaphor or cutesy attempts at creativity, such as using the signs of a train: "choo choo." Even more glaring are the frequent grammatical and spelling errors and uneven uses of meter and rhyme.

Some sense of her personality come through in these writings. Yusen seems a young writer, rebellious, lashing out at the powers that be. She seems to have questions about female sexuality, learning to express that without being viewed as a whore. She also seems interested in larger issues: where she's going in life, what it means to be a writer. And yet, all of these big ideas come out as subtext rather than as subject. They bubble along beneath the fiercely brewing stew of her words.

My advice is twofold: first, she ought to read poetry. It's not enough to sit down with paper and pen and say, "I'm going to write something." Instead, a poet should become familiar with what others have done, to get an idea of the limits and possibilities, to learn how poets refine their language to convey their messages.

Given her rebellious, creative nature, I'd recommend she read some ee cummings, Amiri Baraka and Nikki Giovanni, poets who channel similar forces successfully. But she also should read poets like Robert Frost, whose poems are conversational and yet make effective use of structure. In addition, she ought to read Gwendolyn Brooks, who achieves similar results.

After she's read more poetry, I'd recommend she seek outside opinion about her work. Join a workshop, go to a writing group, solicit feedback from magazine editors when she submits her work. An outside view of her poetry will help her to gauge how effectively her ideas are getting across and to decide what how she can make her poems stronger.

Taylor-Dth Publishing, 2003; ISBN: 0-9727583-6-4