Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
You are absolutely correct, fridayam. Time gives me little space to write, let alone read, and my time might be happiest spent (I won't say "best spent," as that seems presumptuous) working on my own poems."This poet makes a lot of comments on others' work, which raises a point. There have been other postings in the last few days by poets who have some talent and receive a fair amount of comments on their work, but who, as near as I can tell, don't comment on others' work. I agree with Tzara on this. I'm reluctant to comment on those poets' work, either directly or here."
I quote greenmountaineer on the NPR today.
I see the Puritan Police are out in force again The ones who never think that Time might be an enemy to some posters here, that Time might give them precious little space to write, let alone read, that that little Time might be better spent writing than reading, that that little Time spent writing might (mirabile dictu) make a poem which will not be read or commented on because the writer did not spend precious time commenting on other poems.
He or she who knows the private circumstances of poets posting here is allowed to cast the first stone, otherwise judge the poet by the poems and not by the number of comments left.
OK, that's wasted enough precious Time when I was wrestling with a poem that doesn't know when it's beaten.
A plea for comments – and for forbearance for those that do not want to leave them.
It is possible that those that have been on the site for a long time and are active within the thread community may forget how it feels for people when we first enter poems into Literotica.
We have considerable trepidation but, as with people first entering stories, at the back (or even front) of our minds is the fond fantasy that everyone will rush up and say it is the best thing that they have ever seen and ought to be published outside – and of course our poems are not that good.
The best explanation I can make of poetry is that it is an attempt to get across something that matters in life – whether it is say about death or just the feel of wind on the face – painted with a feather or a sledgehammer (OK I am mixing my metaphors but fuck it). Eliot wrote Ash Wednesday (fairly high on the enigmatic scale) – then edited and published an anthology of Kipling’s verse (which Eliot adored). So there is a pretty broad spectrum of what good poetry can be.
It really, really helps for us and means a great deal when we receive comments – particularly if they are not abusive or patronising. Not always easy. I for one have been stymied facing a person’s first poem to find anything positive or constructive to say.
I was first attracted to Literotica by the erotic side, entered a couple of stories and intended and have the first drafts or story lines for several more. Then I entered a poem and was hooked on this hub. It was the kindness that attracted me most. It was not just that you do not get comments like ‘I hope you eat shit and die’ (now deleted by some editor on the site) or the actually nastier ‘another old man with the ambition to write and of course it has to be about being a sick fuck’. Some of you may remember LesseloovesPeter (she wrote three utterly, utterly brilliant short stories) who, if she did not either like or understand the new person’s poem, would leave some highly gnomic and enigmatic comment. She left a highly enigmatic and gnomic comment on my first poem – and I was touched and thrilled to bits.
I found I valued most the comments that were most informative.
From reading the poems, comments and skimming the threads, it is clear there is a broad range of people on the poetry hub including the articulate and sociable, the barely house trained and the acutely shy. I agree with Oggbashan that not everybody wants to or finds it easy to leave comments. Indeed, there something a bit distasteful about our only leaving comments in order that other should leave comments on ours. If I saw that a writer was being intentionally unkind on the site I believe I would avoid leaving comments – otherwise, if I can see any worth in a poem, I am happy to leave a comment.
Plea to Angeline. If you can, please leave this in this thread. Primarily it is about people viewing the new poems so I do believe that this is the right thread for it.
Finally, my apologies if this goes pear shaped (it is my first entry on the threads) or comes across badly.
Seconded with feeling - [exits left]
Tess and Friday-
You are two awesome, kind poets and I appreciate you both so much
I will make this short, good news, some of you know about my accident and my neck and back, et al, but believe it or not, SC has an actual vocational rehab program where I have gone to counseling and training and they told me last week that they will sponsor me to get my OSHA certification in construction safety. I will be going back to school possibly summer or fall and will be back to work soon. woohoo! happy people make better poets? Or is it the opposite....
1201:
"Prosody doesn't 'truly' exist in written language therefore there is no real distinction between prose and poetry."
Okay, I heard you, and I don't care.
Which written language you talking about?
Ok, define "prosody" in spoken English, if you please.
Prosody certainly exists in written classical Greek poetry.
(If you could read it in the original, that is).
there is no reason for a short burst of feet in a short "poem".
It's my position, and seemingly the view of every poet who isn't 1201, that the spoken and written english language do have the elements of prosody that make metrical feet legible to the author of beowulf same as the authors on new poems page at literotica.
The reason poetry exists is probably because it's easier remembering language with rhythm ordered by stress patterns. It only takes a moderate study of poetry to see how well English grammar translates to the page to the reader. There are openings for interpretation when reading, but it's not some uncanny valley that 1201 and possibly Derrida would have you believe. Every grammar favors certain stress patterns in spoken language which can be manipulated on the page through simple act of being well read one can access such information almost immediately.
I gave both of these poems 5/5 because they made the effort to say something, they fashioned quality poems(though I would criticize each poet for shrimping on poetic technique and relying too heavily on tools of prose). The slight advantage probably goes to OpenField because there is genuine studied technique present and Cleardaynow seems to rely more on habitual practice to get them through their routine. Both commendable qualities that I wish I had.
Can you elaborate, please? I have trouble identifying these things you mention.
To respond to Tsotha in brief: half, internal, full rhyme, assonance, alliteration etc. There's a number of tools besides syllable and stress patterns that make poetry something different than prose. By neglecting the poetic tools and techniques we lose special traditions over time that we ought to preserve and expand on through our own creativity and care.
You are absolutely correct, fridayam. Time gives me little space to write, let alone read, and my time might be happiest spent (I won't say "best spent," as that seems presumptuous) working on my own poems.
Certainly, commenting on your poems (which are, at least those I've read, of very good quality, and usually quite interesting) takes time away from my own work, and if there is no prospect of reciprocation of effort (and here I am not talking about me personally, but about anyone who writes poems here), why should I consider ever commenting on yours, or even reading them?
If you're happy with just getting comments from people who don't themselves post poems, or people who don't care that they get reciprocal comments, why bother with that response? Frankly, you seem to be saying something like "Please comment on my poem, though I won't comment on yours because I'm busy (and your poem could not possibly be as important as mine)."
{End of Main Comment}
Hi, mods. I think this discussion should be moved to that subforum, maybe to a thread titled something like "The Ethics of Comments." That's too serious, but kind of what I have in mind. I'll trust your judgment on that.
Ideally, you will keep gm's original comment, fridayam's response, and my response to him in this thread and link to a thread in the other forum where you (again, ideally) duplicate those three posts and let us all discuss it.
Because I know you all are just dying for the opportunity to spend your day wanking all that stuff around.
Or you could just leave everything where it is and hope for the best.