The Wine Test

[butters]

Surely anyone can make submissions, doesn't mean they are printed.

oh, absolutely, annie - i'm simply trying to break through some of the confusion C has brought, though i'd like to think it unintentionally so.

 

[Senna Jawa]

[...] these are not very good.

Then present your best poems.

 

[CamronsInsider]

So you saw sense in free style then but don't now? You knew how to write it then but don't now? Did you forget? You've written reams and reams on how to appreciate free style but don't know how to write it?!

I’m trying to catch up today. New People shouldn’t be allowed to start multiple threads that will require a lot of follow up. I get it, and you are right. But, also note that I was open enough to knowingly contradict my genuine feelings about this. You are right to point it out and argue with me about it. I wrote those 2 poems a long time a go and I think less of my older poetry. And I know someone’s going to say, we’ll post some newer stuff. I am still wrestling with that. For me this is an emotional work-in-progress. Perhaps, my emotional thinking about this is going to end up being a lot more entertaining than the actual poetry.

i think the concept of the wine test is a useful one. it can help those who are less certain about how/why they like something apply their thinking to clarify and nail down some of those reasons. so, yes, i think the wine test is a plausible working method

Butters, Thank you! I could use an affirmation right now. Albeit, the wine test isn’t the same as it works for wine, but this is experimental, much like me posting here. For me this is a great experiment, to share beyond my singular audience. I will say this, poetry written to a SO, at least mine, is pretty specific and I just don’t see posting poems about stuff that isn’t going to make any sense here, largely because it reads like Dr. Seuss mashes up with the typical Christmas letter. At least, when I went back and inventoried the poems, I notices that most contain things and references that are based on our relationship and no one else would understand. So, all that to say, I’m working on it and I hope UYS will accept me back, if for no other reason, making what for me is an effort at something that is hard to do.

seems a trifle effete, could we be more inclusive and expand it to wine, beer and whisky test?

Piscator, hell yes. I’m just naming it that because of the story that brought me the revelation. I appreciate the post. The test works fine with coke and pepsi too.

i don't recall seeing that post. link? edit": the only reference to the new yorker i can see of yours is this, which really fails to convey any sense of you having submitted work to them. do i know you from elsewhere?

Sorry, I’m new and didn’t mean to confuse anyone. Let me explain – without re-explaining what I have already said above (which is context for this) …… I wrote one poem years ago that really stuck with me. I shared it with a friend, and he told me that I should send it to the New Yorker. I had no idea what the New Yorker was all about, but I figured out how to send it in. Six months later I got a nice rejection letter that had an encouraging statement about submitting more poems in the future. And that’s about it. I do value that I was encouraged to try again, which is in part why I’m trying this out – being here and seeing what happens, but I come at this with a lot of uncertainty and feeling nerves about the whole idea. But, also feeling like I have to try to find out. So, I have not posted that poem yet. Only the two at the top so far. So, yes to UnderYourSpell, the poem was not printed, but I still feel good about it. (End of page 1)

Then present your best poems.

Thanks Senna Jawa, I’m intending to do this chronologically. I feel that is the best way to get to know someone, particularly since I feel self-conscious about all this. So, I’m taking this slow and working on it in my head. I suppose I have a certain amount of social anxiety that I’m dealing with here at the same time. I appreciate your post and your interest.