The General Commentary Thread

[Angeline]

Ash I love your sweet nostalgia love letter.

I'll never forget the poets you've mentioned, especially dear Annie, (UnderYorSpell), who was always up for a challenge and a giggle. And since I'm sure she's watching over us from above, I'll not forget to note she is the only one to ever win a poetry survivor contest. As those of you who were around then recall it was a grueling contest, but she hung in there and wrote all those crazy form poems! Miss you Annie!

I also really miss GuiltyPleasure, an excellent poet and one of my favorite people here ever.

And I still miss smithpeter who I think of as the patron saint of this forum. To know him was to love him. Wicked Eve, too.

Anyway thanks Ash for the trip down memory lane!

 

[Tzara]

It's not too early to think about 2025! Anyone want to do a poem a week again or more challenges like this year? Ideas for themes? Something new?

I personally like the idea of going back to the poem-a-week thread--I think that worked very well and let people write whatever they wanted, yet it provided a target to shoot for in terms of keeping up with writing. I'd rather the specific challenges be posted by anyone at any time, separate from the overall challenge, as for me at least some of them appeal to me and some do not (for example, my apologies to puddle_girl, but I just don't have anything I want to say about my mother--though I suppose that itself could be something I could write a poem about).

Anyway, that's my vote/suggestion.

 

[Angeline]

I personally like the idea of going back to the poem-a-week thread--I think that worked very well and let people write whatever they wanted, yet it provided a target to shoot for in terms of keeping up with writing. I'd rather the specific challenges be posted by anyone at any time, separate from the overall challenge, as for me at least some of them appeal to me and some do not (for example, my apologies to puddle_girl, but I just don't have anything I want to say about my mother--though I suppose that itself could be something I could write a poem about).

Anyway, that's my vote/suggestion.

I want to do a poem a week again, too (because I'm out of my mind lol). I love that if you persevere from January to December you have about a chapbook"s worth of poetry. I know from experience though that some weeks I'm lucky to come up with an American Sentence. Still it's great to practice developing the habit of regular poeming.

I know some folks will hate the idea and want to continue something like we've done this year or maybe something new altogether. We could do a poem a week plus monthly challenges or something else. I know though that if I commit to a poem a week i personally may not be up for additional challenges.

Obviously I'm a totally indecisive Gemini (really like two-thirds of my chart is Gemini: it's *hard* to make up my mind... y'all have no idea ).

So c'mon and weigh in with those opinions. I know you have them so please share your thoughts!

 

[XMarilynX]

Maybe we could have a monthly theme based challenge, a monthly forms based challenge and weekly write what ever you want threads?

That’s my Swish Swiss Franc opinion.

 

[HarryHill]

We have options?

 

[Angeline]

It has been a while since folks made suggestions for the forum in 2025. As usual y'all want it all (options, Harry, options ). I don't see why we can't have it all if we work together to make it happen . And by all, I mean:

~A dedicated poem-a-week thread, type of poem (form, etc) to be determined by the participants

~A monthly themed challenge thread. This could be done similarly to what we've done this past year OR as 42Below suggests, we draw on previous challenges. If we did that we could still have challenge leaders but instead of coming up with a new idea, they'd comb through old threads and pick one for a given month. So in March, for example, someone chooses the American Sentence thread and that's the month's challenge.

~42 also suggested a workshop thread. We've had them in the past with varying degrees of success. IMO they require dedicated participants with some shared understanding of how to give constructive critique. Otherwise (in my experience) one or two people end up doing all the work.

I'm mostly interested in the poem-a-week idea. If I do that with a theme (something I'm considering), I probably won't want to do a lot of writing to other challenges. But that's just me. And if I do that, maybe someone else can take on the monthly themed challenges and another could lead a workshop thread.

So. Whaddya think? Opinions? Anybody want to volunteer for any of this?

 

[Bigtitsbitch1000x]

How does one write a poem? How does one structure a poem?

One really good solution to this is to make a kind of story. It doesn't have to be elaborate, or showy, or linguistically frilly. It just needs to engage the reader with some basic narrative that he or she can relate to.

Like Angie's "Awakening." Twenty lines, very basic story, but interesting and compelling. The poem is more than a "I looked hot in that swimsuit" poem--it references older women's opinion, the narrator's uncertainty about how she looks, her growing confidence about how she looks, the whole thing about incipient sexuality.

It is, in other words, about the emotions experienced by the narrator, which is what makes it a poem.

Or, at least to me, a pretty good one.

Having participated deeply in Surrealism, I write poetry and fiction in a way that parallels my life as a hot ho.

I have my permanent sources: Provençal and Catalan troubadours, Sufis, German Romantics, Russians of the Silver Afe, Surrealists.

They are like panties and bras. I pick things up and out of them.

I have dictionaries. Like skirts.

News clips. Like tops.

Artworks. Like jackets.

Past pubs of mine. Shoes.

Writing a poem and assembling an outfit are the same to me.

And I mainly like traditional forms these days. White lace.

Etc.

( O )( O )

 

[Angeline]

If anyone wants to pick up that extra October challenge slot, feel free. I'm in the midst of moving and may not be able to pick it up myself if no one else does. Otoh seems like most everyone is currently on vacation from the forum, so maybe October is a one challenge month.

If you are able to pick it up, say so here or in the Leader Sign Up thread or message me.

 

[Angeline]

We have three open slots for challenges for the rest of the year. If anyone has an idea for a prompt this would be a great time to volunteer. I know it's a very busy time for many of us, but leading a challenge doesn't take much upkeep. It's not like you're adopting a puppy! I'll pick up one of the slots so that means only two brave souls need step up.

As for 2025 I'll start a Poem-a-Week thread and you're all welcome to join in. If you miss a week (or more) there will be no judgement: only love and understanding! If folks want other challenges, beyond all the ongoing ones, start them. This is an egalitarian kinda place!

 

[butters]

We have three open slots for challenges for the rest of the year. If anyone has an idea for a prompt this would be a great time to volunteer. I know it's a very busy time for many of us, but leading a challenge doesn't take much upkeep. It's not like you're adopting a puppy! I'll pick up one of the slots so that means only two brave souls need step up.

As for 2025 I'll start a Poem-a-Week thread and you're all welcome to join in. If you miss a week (or more) there will be no judgement: only love and understanding! If folks want other challenges, beyond all the ongoing ones, start them. This is an egalitarian kinda place!

sign me up for November

 

[Angeline]

If anyone wants to pick up Challenge B for December post here or pm me. I won't be able to do it. Thanks.

 

[Angeline]

If anyone wants to pick up Challenge B for December post here or pm me. I won't be able to do it. Thanks.

Thanks SpermFactory for volunteering to do the December B challenge!