what's your poetic achilles'-heel?

[Senna Jawa]

What's wrong with me?

Am I supposed to self-criticize (self-incriminate) myself?

OK, I'll try to do it. Just give me a couple of days (I need time since this is so important ).

 

[butters]

Hi butters!

Suddenly I feel like at a communist party meeting. Am I supposed to self-criticize (self-incriminate) myself?

Best regards, peace,

OK, I'll try to do it. Just give me a couple of days (I need time since this is so important ).

tread more lightly over your psyche, senna - it's no crime to be flawed; if we were perfect, how should we strive for improvement? without the striving, there is only stagnation - eventually. take your time, it's not a test, only an acknowledgement of areas we find more tricky as individuals.

 

[Senna Jawa]

tread more lightly over your psche, senna - it's no crime to be flawed; [blah-blah-blah]

Butters, all these patronizing advices are offensive. (Perhaps you should tread much more lightly over your own "psche").

 

[Tsotha]

Butters, all these patronizing advices are offensive. (Perhaps you should tread much more lightly over your own "psche").

She meant that this is supposed to be a light-hearted reflection, to share with others some facet of writing one finds challenging—not to make a serious critique of one's own work.

 

[HarryHill]

Butters, all these patronizing advices are offensive. (Perhaps you should tread much more lightly over your own "psche").

...Ah ha ha, there's the SJ that I love and despise
do you feel the burning need to take a piss old man?

 

[butters]

Butters, all these patronizing advices are offensive. (Perhaps you should tread much more lightly over your own "psche").

damned typo

senna, i offer unreserved apologies if you interpreted my posts as patronising. they were never intended as such and i'm rather surprised you assumed them to be since it was only recently you were praising my kind and friendly nature.
however, your editing of my post to 'blah blah blah' was intentionally rude and puerile.

c'est la vie. i am sure others here have understood the more humorous slant of the thread.

 

[butters]

She meant that this is supposed to be a light-hearted reflection, to share with others some facet of writing one finds challenging—not to make a serious critique of one's own work.

my thanks, tsotha.
i think this might be the perfect illustration of that intent/perception thing we were discussing.

 

[HarryHill]

Butters, all these patronizing advices are offensive. (Perhaps you should tread much more lightly over your own "psche").

What does that mean?

She meant that this is supposed to be a light-hearted reflection, to share with others some facet of writing one finds challenging—not to make a serious critique of one's own work.

Oh well said, an extra gold star this week, no popcorn though *wink*

...Ah ha ha, there's the SJ that I love and despise
do you feel the burning need to take a piss old man?

..
perhaps a bit harsh... but if you look it echoes a comment you made about one of my poems. I think I may have deleted my reply poem in Tsara's poem a week challenge, but I had fun writing it, thanks for the inspiration.
Perhaps that is my tender heel, the burning need to take a micky piss

 

[butters]

What does that mean?

Oh well said, an extra gold star this week, no popcorn though *wink*

..
perhaps a bit harsh... but if you look it echoes a comment you made about one of my poems. I think I may have deleted my reply poem in Tsara's poem a week challenge, but I had fun writing it, thanks for the inspiration.
Perhaps that is my tender heel, the burning need to take a micky piss

means i made a typo this morning since i was in a hurry to leave for work, but taking the time to try to assure him there was no pressure; it was only a pleasant way to look at and identify those areas we struggle with as individuals.

oh! taking the mickey/taking the piss *dense moment*

 

[Tsotha]

Mmm. Taking the "mickey". Am I right to think that he is referring to a microphone, not the mouse?

 

[butters]

Mmm. Taking the "mickey". Am I right to think that he is referring to a microphone, not the mouse?

it's a brit euphemism for 'making fun of'... it comes from 'taking the piss', which became 'taking the michael' or, shorter, 'taking the mickey'

according to this urban dictionary, though, michael didn't seem to come into things but that's what i grew up understanding - perhaps my mother decided it better to keep me in ignorance, lol. hmmn, i think, in hindsight, it got moved from 'mickey' to 'michael' to avoid some of the racist overtones. all went way over my head as a child

Take the Mickey out of
This phrase is not new; the full phrase is "to take the Mickey (out of someone)"
Britons have been using this figure of speech for decades, if not centuries. A "Mickey" of course, is a "Mick": a pejorative, racist term for an Irishman (so nicknamed because so many Irish surnames begin with Mc- or Mac-) It is a common stereotype, in both the UK and USA, that Irish men have volatile tempers, like to brawl, and make good boxers. So, To "take the Mickey (out of someone)" means to take the fight, the vigor, the gravity, the self-importance out of them, by mocking them, usually in a very subtle way.
Headmaster: "...so I expect you boys to comport yourself with the full dignity befitting students of this establishment of secondary learning."

Student: "Oh yes, we will sir. We'll even wear our school blazers to bed."

Headmaster: "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to take the Mickey out of me!"

 

[Tsotha]

it's a brit euphemism for 'making fun of'... it comes from 'taking the piss', which became 'taking the michael' or, shorter, 'taking the mickey'

according to this urban dictionary, though, michael didn't seem to come into things but that's what i grew up understanding - perhaps my mother decided it better to keep me in ignorance, lol. hmmn, i think, in hindsight, it got moved from 'mickey' to 'michael' to avoid some of the racist overtones. all went way over my head as a child

Thank you. It's funny how everyone writes so very different... Hard to understand, at times, but always interesting.

 

[twelveoone]

OK, I'll try to do it. Just give me a couple of days (I need time since this is so important ).

I have no faults
like the pacific rim
in other words
I'm just like him

a regular ROFL waffle

 

[butters]

I have no faults
like the pacific rim
in other words
I'm just like him

a regular ROFL waffle

you ain't no i-robot, richie
all of us, and i know you know this (it's for readers more than contributors to this thread) are flawed. humanity makes us so and humanity is awesome. stupid as shit, too, sometimes, but - yanno - generally awesome.

 

[twelveoone]

you ain't no i-robot, richie
all of us, and i know you know this (it's for readers more than conctributors to this thread) are flawed. humanity makes us so and humanity is awesome. stupid as shit, too, sometimes, but - yanno - generally awesome.

oh it's for the readers...
in that case whatever it is, I've either done too much or too little of.

Now, here is a point. Did you ever see something perfect? If so, it would be annoying, boring. It is the subtle faults and flaws that intrigue. (i guess that is what makes me so intriguing - I'm full of 'em (and it), some not so subtle)

Also, here is another point, the fault in yourself that you can identify is often NOT a fault, because you know it is there, you are dealing with it, and others may even find it appealing.

So back to...
Whatever was said, I'm probably guilty of...and one of the things I have carped about - Failure to think things through - I'm guilty of also.

But I can hardly wait for Senna to come up with his list -
of almost one.

 

[Angeline]

oh it's for the readers...
in that case whatever it is, I've either done too much or too little of.

Now, here is a point. Did you ever see something perfect? If so, it would be annoying, boring. It is the subtle faults and flaws that intrigue. (i guess that is what makes me so intriguing - I'm full of 'em (and it), some not so subtle)

Also, here is another point, the fault in yourself that you can identify is often NOT a fault, because you know it is there, you are dealing with it, and others may even find it appealing.

So back to...
Whatever was said, I'm probably guilty of...and one of the things I have carped about - Failure to think things through - I'm guilty of also.

But I can hardly wait for Senna to come up with his list -
of almost one.

Of course if he doesn't wish to answer that would be totally cool, too, as this is a light-hearted thread. Maybe we could write poems about what we think our faults are.

 

[butters]

Of course if he doesn't wish to answer that would be totally cool, too, as this is a light-hearted thread. Maybe we could write poems about what we think our faults are.

maybe!

 

[Angeline]

maybe!

I've always thought that Paul Simon wrote the definitive song on my faults, so I'll leave it at that.

 

[butters]

I've always thought that Paul Simon wrote the definitive song on my faults, so I'll leave it at that.

have you ever experienced
a period of grace...

how he pronounces experienced and period.. ha!

maybe maybe, angie baby

 

[WillOtheWisp]

I guess the Achille's heel that I've been brooding (poetically ofcourse) upon
lately would be...sonnets. Anyone who views my submissions here knows they are mostly sonnets. Nearly all my poems off this site are sonnets too. I truly love the form, but that's not why I'm so wedded to it.

Sonnets are poetry with a "net". Even with a bad sonnet, readers generally give you solid credit for trying. No one ever reads a sonnet and says "what the hell was that?". They know what it is. It's a known quantity. Like a painter, painting a sunset or a fruit bowl. Old grandpa Shakespeare bequeathed the form a romance and a respectability that even laymen will still acknowledge. There is less risk.

Also less reward. The enforced rhyme scheme and rhythm keeps the mood of a sonnet sing-songing along. Sonnets cannot cut or stab. Like singing the Blues. No matter how heavy you try to be, in the end it just entertains. There will always be a length of emotional distance between reader and reading with a sonnet.

So I should stop relying on them. To branch out; risk writing agonizing crap.

Anyway that's one of my Achille's heels. Also I'm really bad at taking my own advice.

 

[Tsotha]

I guess the Achille's heel that I've been brooding (poetically ofcourse) upon
lately would be...sonnets. Anyone who views my submissions here knows they are mostly sonnets. Nearly all my poems off this site are sonnets too. I truly love the form, but that's not why I'm so wedded to it.

Sonnets are poetry with a "net". Even with a bad sonnet, readers generally give you solid credit for trying. No one ever reads a sonnet and says "what the hell was that?". They know what it is. It's a known quantity. Like a painter, painting a sunset or a fruit bowl. Old grandpa Shakespeare bequeathed the form a romance and a respectability that even laymen will still acknowledge. There is less risk.

Also less reward. The enforced rhyme scheme and rhythm keeps the mood of a sonnet sing-songing along. Sonnets cannot cut or stab. Like singing the Blues. No matter how heavy you try to be, in the end it just entertains. There will always be a length of emotional distance between reader and reading with a sonnet.

So I should stop relying on them. To branch out; risk writing agonizing crap.

Anyway that's one of my Achille's heels. Also I'm really bad at taking my own advice.

*applauds*

You shouldn't be wary of writing agonizing crap. Writing something so incredibly bad / annoying / distasteful that it makes people go out of their way to tell you is kind of an achievement in itself. But seriously, you already question your work, it's the correct mindset for one who wants to improve; now go ahead and write, don't keep yourself from trying because it may turn out bad.

 

[twelveoone]

Sonnets cannot cut or stab. Like singing the Blues. No matter how heavy you try to be, in the end it just entertains. There will always be a length of emotional distance between reader and reading with a sonnet.

Read further, while entertaining they are often cutting and stabbing, sometimes at the form itself, i.e. ee cummings

"next to of course god america i"

Deju Vu
been down this road before
time to wrap it up.
No offense intended here WoW. Past ghosts arise.

The volta is right where you expect it

why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-

iful than these heroic happy dead

 

[twelveoone]

whole thread mystifies me, as most do not seem to identify weaknesses (achilles' heels)
however Wow (while being a good writer of sonnets) does make a good points about the skateability of form writing

And I thought that is what the reader is supposed to determine, by their pointed (pun) comments.

 

[butters]

whole thread mystifies me, as most do not seem to identify weaknesses (achilles' heels)
however Wow (while being a good writer of sonnets) does make a good points about the skateability of form writing

And I thought that is what the reader is supposed to determine, by their pointed (pun) comments.

poets . . . you can't herd them, just shake the box and see if the one iside the box miaus.

it might have been nice, educational even, should the track have stayed - well, on track - but it's informal and people wander about in the aisles. not to mention what they do with the popcorn.

 

[HarryHill]

poets . . . you can't herd them, just shake the box and see if the one iside the box miaus.

it might have been nice, educational even, should the track have stayed - well, on track - but it's informal and people wander about in the aisles. not to mention what they do with the popcorn.

<<<<points at Tsotha and laughs.