Why are the poets so goddamned concerned about who's number one?

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Have you BEEN over to the Story and Poem Feedback Forum? Every other freakin thread is about the order of the top list, who's moving up, who's moving down, who's promoting themselves too much, entire threads devoted to how to self-promote, people sending condolences and congratulations on falling and rising up the charts...

It's a little bizarre.

 

[Marxist]

Why?

Because Poets Are Losers!!!

sorry, had to let that out.

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

What Poets?

There are not Poets.

Never has been.

In fact there never been such a thing as Poetry.

It doesn't exist really.

Poetry only exists in the egotistical minds of over-educated word snobs.

It only exists in the minds of those who think they may be creative.

It only exits as an easily accessed masturbatory mental fucntion for those who think they may have something to say.

Poetry is vapor thought. Poetry is nothing more than obtuse, inane, bullshit.

Everybody with a mind knows this to be true.

 

[Purple Haze]

Does that apply to good song lyrics too, Sparky?

 

[Renegade]

There are forums other then the Gen board???

And the Personals, of course.

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Anything popular and/or amusing.....

a lyric, is trivial tripe of the truest and most tantamount of tortures.

Example? Elton John.

Example 2? Barry Manhole.

Lyrics are popula fodder for the masses to amuse themselves with. Not much more.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

I'm afraid you've confused poetry with God. There is no God. There is abundance of poetry. Ever see a spider-web? Or Audrey Hepburn's neck?

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Here's a quick poem for you......

I hate typos
Typos drive me psycho
But when I have a typo
I just tend to lay down
And pretend I don't give a care
There

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

A spider-web is a beautiful thing of nature.

Something predisposed by God. Something inate to our plantet. Something natural.

Poetry is not.

 

[April]

Do you really want an answer, or is it a rhetorical question?

I wouldn't mind having my poem being at the number one spot. Who wouldn't, really? I imagine it's the same with the stories. But I do think all the clamoring over there is way over done. But then, what do I know? I certainly don't consider myself a poet.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Poetry is reflection and connection with God, nature, and all things natural and allow us to contemplate the human condition. Don't hem the word in to only apply to grody Billy Joel songs or bathroom stall limericks.

 

[Dixon Carter Lee]

Do you really want an answer, or is it a rhetorical question?

I'm curious. Everyone promotes their stories a bit (see link posted below) but it's taken on this aura of uber-importance over there, almost to the point where I expect to start seeing "For Your Consideration" ads placed on the Literotica Home Page. Weird.

 

[Sparky Kronkite]

Now you've done it.....

To me - Billy Joel is God!

Just kidding.

What a waste of talent.

I hate little fucks who build a reputation for being tough. I'd kick his sorry Lownga Eyeland ass.

 

[April]

LOL, DCL. I hadn't thought of it that way. I rarely go over there. They are scary in their earnestness. Maybe for them, it is very important. I think most of the people that hang out there, don't come to the general forum.

But I don't know. I don't understand people most of the time.

 

[KillerMuffin]

Been there.

No, we had tigerjen the telemarketing style self-promotion queen running amuck for a while. She got pooh-poohed and knocked it off and now only promotes others. Lately someone's been pulling up her old threads and accusing her of voter fraud. I bet it's Chad. We now have an Unmasked Poet doing the #1 poem critique and that apparently changes frequently.

It's almost more soap-ish than here.

But we have the Mighty Spork of Justice to our credit.

 

[Savage Kitten]

Coming Out Of The Closet

I am a Poet and proud of it! Anyone that has visited my website has seen that. I write, and have had published online and in print, more poetry than anything else.

IMHO.. Poets are more direct and to the point than storytellers.

I can say in a few short lines what it takes some of you pages to write. IE:

Sweet lover, too devine
Creating heaven, so sublime
Heightened desires, fluid motion
Romantic lust, sexual potion
Orgasmic rush, rhythmic time
Fantasy lover, forever mine


So... *gasp*.. now that you know the truth.. do you still love me??

 

[April]

You spelled "devine" wrong. It is divine.

 

[cymbidia]

Re: What Poets?

There are not Poets.

Never has been.

In fact there never been such a thing as Poetry.

It doesn't exist really.

There are no poets? No poems?

Perhaps not in your world, Sparky. I'm sad for you, if so.

Poets, via their words, have always offered me the ability to see and understand a slice of the world in a different manner. Poetry tells me the same old stories from a fresh perspective. Some poetry is bad, some is good, and some is so pure and glorious it makes my heart beat faster to read the words.

The Song of Hiawatha
Part III
Hiawatha's Childhood


And the West-Wind came at evening,
Walking lightly o'er the prairie,
Whispering to the leaves and blossoms,
Bending low the flowers and grasses,
Found the beautiful Wenonah,
Lying there among the lilies,
Wooed her with his words of sweetness,
Wooed her with his soft caresses,
Till she bore a son in sorrow,
Bore a son of love and sorrow.

Thus was born my Hiawatha,
Thus was born the child of wonder;
But the daughter of Nokomis,
Hiawatha's gentle mother,
In her anguish died deserted
By the West-Wind, false and faithless,
By the heartless Mudjekeewis.

For her daughter long and loudly
Wailed and wept the sad Nokomis;
"O that I were dead!" she murmured,
"O that I were dead, as thou art!
No more work, and no more weeping,
Wahonowin! Wahonowin!"

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbi...modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=2&division=div1

About the Poem
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's interest in Native American culture began many years before his epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha, was first published on November 10, 1855. Longfellow had known the chief of the Ojibwa tribe and had seen the last few Algonquins in Maine. He had read the work of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, an American ethnologist who had lived with the Ojibwas, and had spent many hours composing sketches and contemplating the best way to approach a subject he had felt deeply about.

On June 22, 1854, the following entry appeared in Longfellow's diary:

"I have at length hit upon a plan for a poem on the American Indians, which seems to me the right one and the only. It is to weave together their beautiful traditions into a whole..."

The figure of Hiawatha himaself was to be a composite character constructed from the stories Schoolcraft and others had set down. One such story concerned an actual man named Hoawatha, a chief of the Onondaga tribe who was known for his diplomacy in forming the Iroquois nation.

The poem that finally emerged was unlike anything previously published. After combining the various myths, legends, and first- person accounts written by others, Longfellow added his unique sensibility and made the material his own.

 

[Svedish_Chef]

Poetry only exists in the egotistical minds of over-educated word snobs.

It only exists in the minds of those who think they may be creative.

Everybody with a mind knows this to be true.

I knew I was mindless but the sparkster proves it for me

Does that apply to good song lyrics too, Sparky?

Better fucking well not!

 

[christo]

So far as the comment that poetry doesn't exist, I offer one William Shakespeare as evidence to the contrary.

Good poetry, great poetry, can be sublime. I'm not a big fan of poetry, I was an English major and I loathed my poetry classes, but I get the goosebumps when I read the really good stuff.

It is very, very difficult to write great poetry, and, in my opinion, there's great poetry and bad poetry, with little in between. I either love it or I'm totally indifferent to it. I can read a so-so story, but I bail out on mediocre poetry pronto.

I don't quite get the "I'm #1!" stuff on that board either. I can understand posting on that board to get some attention for stuff you've written (I've done it myself), but touting your ranking is a bit unseemly.

Audrey Hepburn's neck I think is definitely high on the list of Wonders of the Modern World. What a beautiful, beautiful woman she was. Talk about sublime.

 

[p_p_man]

Re: What Poets?

There are not Poets.
Never has been.
In fact there never been such a thing as Poetry.
It doesn't exist really.
Poetry only exists in the egotistical minds of over-educated word snobs.

What is there through this dark and stormy night?
Naught but beasts upon the wing and the dreaded Sparky Kronkite.
It swoops upon its prey, devouring
The egotistical minds it finds with words outpouring
From imaginations run wild in time
From them The Kronkite eats and whines...

Without the magic of the verse
The Kronkite's world would be much the worse
No prose to make him laugh and cry and wonder
Then what would the Sparky Kronkite plunder?

 

[Guest]

Poetry is a most beautiful art form. It's no different than writing a story at all. But, what poetry does is convey its message to you in a most unique and glorifying way.

The beauty of poetry is being able to capture your emotion at that exact moment you're feeling it. The words you choose, how you place them, how you allow your most secret thoughts to flow from your imagination through your heart, and reach out to become one with paper or letters on the keyboard is something so magical, so wonderful.

Yes, a story can do the same thing. It's really all about your creative processes being allowed to run free. Whatever form you choose, whether it be writing poetry, stories, music, painting....anything that is created through your soul and imagination....it's all the signature we've left for others to see inside us.

I love to read poetry very much as well as create my own. Some people don't realize that in order to appreciate poetry it must be read many times, not just once. You need to understand the words and how they were written with regard to inflection. Most could be music when you are able to find the rhythm of the words. Poetry, when you get right down to it, is nothing more than a story. It's a slice of a moment, or a slice of a lifetime. It's words that are arranged a bit differently in order to stimulate the senses through imagination - which is exactly what a story does.

Good night, Everyone.

 

[erosman]

[ It's a slice of a moment, or a slice of a lifetime. It's words that are arranged a bit differently in order to stimulate the senses through imagination - which is exactly what a story does.

Beautifully stated!

When do we get a sample of your poetry, Enchanted?

 

[RisiaSkye]

Good gods, cym--invoking the spectre of Longfellow is hardly a stellar evidence of the value of poetry. What wretched verse that man wrote, without meter or consistent rhythm and utterly devoid of passion. And, "Hiawatha" bears a marked resemblance to an Iroquois oral history legend. Of course, I notice our boy Henry quite happily took all the credit.

Dixon--First, poets are insane by definition. Second, the feedback board has been dominated by our resident validation-seeker tigerjen for some months now. The recent flurry of poetry threads reflects the shift toward newbie narcissism both directly, and through the recent start of several threads attacking the same trend.

Sparky--if your world is actually without poetry, that's a very sad fact. Poetry expresses some of the highest aspirations of humanity--truth, beauty, harmony, intimacy, self-discipline and personal communication and connection. To turn your rather patronizing formulation around: Anyone with a heart feels this.

 

[Angel]

Hm. I guess I should throw out the 2000 plus pages of poetry I've written then.