poetry

[wildsweetone]

pretty stupid title i realise now but nevermind, it's apt.


are there times when you've written a poem that you think is pretty neat, when you turn around and have doubts whether it's even a poem?

when you have those doubts, what do you do? do you share it with someone in the hopes they'll tell you 'yes, it's a poem' or 'no it's carpet underlay'?

what do you do?

 

[MissBri]

 

[Angeline]

I think that about most poems I write.

Now and then I write something and I know I nailed it, but usually I think my poems are fraudulent crap. Doesn't everyone?



Oh. And I keep writing anyway. I can't seem to not write poems.

 

[Angeline]

My stuff's always hit or miss, and the ones I like best are often the ones that get little or no attention. Sometimes I wanna give up and just stick to writing fiction - but then someone will say something that makes me glad I do share my stuff, even if I'm not a great poet. So, onward I trudge.

Besides, isn't poetry entirely subjective?

That's true for me, too. The ones I think are the best never get much attention and the ones that do are always poems I think are majorly flawed.

 

[My Erotic Trail]

I think that about most poems I write.

Now and then I write something and I know I nailed it, but usually I think my poems are fraudulent crap. Doesn't everyone?



Oh. And I keep writing anyway. I can't seem to not write poems.

yep, ditto grasshopper... <grin (~_~)

I don't always know what will sail and what will sink though, so many times I thought I had a poor poem and recieved a lot of comments or feedback that they liked the poem and then as in life (the yin yang) I may have written a poem I thought was good and find others didn't feel the poem the way I wrote it. I find I write alot of poems (home and threads) and submit or show the ones I like.

I have found that it also depends on who reads your poem. (I'll leave it at that) <grinin'

 

[MissBri]

 

[My Erotic Trail]

That's about it - I had more poems with that little red H before a bunch of votes were apparently swept, but of the two I have now, one is one of my favorites among the poems I've written and the other was kind of a half-assed attempt. Its counterpart, the more serious attempt at a similar poem, has only had two votes and they weren't high at all. *shrug* I won't pretend to have the foggiest idea about how people judge anything posted on Lit.


Also a good point. Similar things happen with my stories, but I think those tend to make more sense than the voting 'patterns' on poems.

I believe some vote to default the red "H" and or bring a poem down in ratings. So you have to wear a one bomb helmet and write for the joy of writing and not votes. Here's a little example I have several poems with 8 and 9 votes that are "5" at this point as soon as they recieve the tenth vote and recieve a red "H" it is attacked or low voted to bring the poem down in ratings. This topic has been hashed out several times on several threads by several people justifying why they vote this way. We have to endure the weekness of others and have compassion for ignorance or those tormented enough to play this way. So, as I said, write for the joy and not the points and the results will be a lot more pleasing.

 

[MissBri]

 

[wildsweetone]

yep, ditto grasshopper... <grin (~_~)

I don't always know what will sail and what will sink though, so many times I thought I had a poor poem and recieved a lot of comments or feedback that they liked the poem and then as in life (the yin yang) I may have written a poem I thought was good and find others didn't feel the poem the way I wrote it. I find I write alot of poems (home and threads) and submit or show the ones I like.

I have found that it also depends on who reads your poem. (I'll leave it at that) <grinin'

nice stopping point Art, thanks.

Mistress Jett, my advice is to take notice of constructive feedback and ignore votes (there is an ability to turn them off).

Angeline, i don't think any of your poems that i've seen are fraudulent crap.

i think sometimes when i have doubts it is because i've either written something that surprises me - i.e. it shows another layer or different meaning to my initial expectation. that's when i sometimes find myself wondering if what i've written is a poem.

 

[annaswirls]

baby doll, just because someone does not like your poem and (oh my!) gives it what they think it deserves (3 or 4) does not qualify as an attack or a low vote, snuggle bug.

I believe some vote to default the red "H" and or bring a poem down in ratings. So you have to wear a one bomb helmet and write for the joy of writing and not votes. Here's a little example I have several poems with 8 and 9 votes that are "5" at this point as soon as they recieve the tenth vote and recieve a red "H" it is attacked or low voted to bring the poem down in ratings. This topic has been hashed out several times on several threads by several people justifying why they vote this way. We have to endure the weekness of others and have compassion for ignorance or those tormented enough to play this way. So, as I said, write for the joy and not the points and the results will be a lot more pleasing.

 

[WickedEve]

nice stopping point Art, thanks.

Mistress Jett, my advice is to take notice of constructive feedback and ignore votes (there is an ability to turn them off).

Angeline, i don't think any of your poems that i've seen are fraudulent crap.

i think sometimes when i have doubts it is because i've either written something that surprises me - i.e. it shows another layer or different meaning to my initial expectation. that's when i sometimes find myself wondering if what i've written is a poem.

assume it's all poetry.
worry more about whether or not it's good or bad poetry?

 

[WickedEve]

baby doll, just because someone does not like your poem and (oh my!) gives it what they think it deserves (3 or 4) does not qualify as an attack or a low vote, snuggle bug.

are you two sexually involved?

 

[annaswirls]

Hi WSO!

Not stupid at all girl!

I think that there are many poems that are written in the process of laying the groundwork for the one that will come along and leave you with no doubt....

so much of poetry is in the process of working things out, figuring out different layers of something that might feel very familiar... but in fact much is hidden.

Most likely, what you are doing, when you write poems that you are not sure are poems, is working through that process. In a month or a week or a year or ten, you will take from the experience of writing what you wrote today, and go miles further with it.

Nothing written is wasted, whether or not it is a poem, a good poem an adequate poem a god awful poem ( I write more than my fair share of those) because it is all about that growth, not just as a writer but as a person.



and to answer your question, YES I ALWAYS turn around and say what I have written is even a poem. Sure it is subjective but if the writer says it isn't a poem, then it isn't heheh You do not have to ask someone if it is or isn't. You know. And when you think it isn't it just means you have not gotten there yet, because you KNOW there is more in you, yet to be discovered.





I feel like I just wrote a submission to "Chicken Soup for the Poetic Soul" and it will get summarily rejected

pretty stupid title i realise now but nevermind, it's apt.


are there times when you've written a poem that you think is pretty neat, when you turn around and have doubts whether it's even a poem?

when you have those doubts, what do you do? do you share it with someone in the hopes they'll tell you 'yes, it's a poem' or 'no it's carpet underlay'?

what do you do?

 

[wildsweetone]

assume it's all poetry.
worry more about whether or not it's good or bad poetry?

wow what a perspective.

that might mean i am a poet though. hmm

 

[annaswirls]

are you two sexually involved?

back off, you got all the other boys, this one is mine

 

[annaswirls]

wow what a perspective.

that might mean i am a poet though. hmm

only a poet would say that

 

[song_writer]

Self editing

YOU know if it's a poem or not. If you have any doubt, then you have answered the question: Is it a poem or carpet lining.

I have to decide if my song is a song before I let anyone else here it.

 

[WickedEve]

back off, you got all the other boys, this one is mine

aggressive, man-grabbing bitch

 

[wildsweetone]

Hi WSO!

Not stupid at all girl!

I think that there are many poems that are written in the process of laying the groundwork for the one that will come along and leave you with no doubt....

so much of poetry is in the process of working things out, figuring out different layers of something that might feel very familiar... but in fact much is hidden.

Most likely, what you are doing, when you write poems that you are not sure are poems, is working through that process. In a month or a week or a year or ten, you will take from the experience of writing what you wrote today, and go miles further with it.

Nothing written is wasted, whether or not it is a poem, a good poem an adequate poem a god awful poem ( I write more than my fair share of those) because it is all about that growth, not just as a writer but as a person.



and to answer your question, YES I ALWAYS turn around and say what I have written is even a poem. Sure it is subjective but if the writer says it isn't a poem, then it isn't heheh You do not have to ask someone if it is or isn't. You know. And when you think it isn't it just means you have not gotten there yet, because you KNOW there is more in you, yet to be discovered.





I feel like I just wrote a submission to "Chicken Soup for the Poetic Soul" and it will get summarily rejected

on the contrary, what you've written makes perfect sense and i might just print it out and stick it to the middle of my screen today.

 

[WickedEve]

wow what a perspective.

that might mean i am a poet though. hmm

you are a poet.
a few years ago, I didn't think I was one. Then one day it hits you. "I'm a poet. God help me, I'm a poet."

 

[wildsweetone]

editing, reworking, revising, rewriting...

this morning i looked at a poem (yes that one is a poem) that i wrote awhile ago and took out a comma. nothing else, just the comma. then i closed the file and put it away.

i so cannot believe i did that.

lolol

 

[annaswirls]

this morning i looked at a poem (yes that one is a poem) that i wrote awhile ago and took out a comma. nothing else, just the comma. then i closed the file and put it away.

i so cannot believe i did that.

lolol

tomorrow, you need to go open the file and put the comma back in again

at least that is what I would do
for about 2 weeks then let it ferment for a year or two
see what rises to the top

 

[wildsweetone]

tomorrow, you need to go open the file and put the comma back in again

at least that is what I would do
for about 2 weeks then let it ferment for a year or two
see what rises to the top

maybe you're right. there's nearly always some good stuff after fermentation. i wonder what it will be like to look back at poems after a year or two? that's quite a scary thought considering i'm still in the throes of learning how to write the stuff.

 

[wildsweetone]

you are a poet.
a few years ago, I didn't think I was one. Then one day it hits you. "I'm a poet. God help me, I'm a poet."

i thought i still had a lot more learning to do before i could lay claim to being a poet. fancy that!

 

[The Poets]

i thought i still had a lot more learning to do before i could lay claim to being a poet. fancy that!

I think of you as a poet.