So you think you're a poet?

Prove it! : )

As part of an attempt to bring more activity into the Poetry Discussion and Writing forums, I'm looking for site members who are willing to share their expertise. What I envision is a series of short, informal articles based on whatever the author feels like spouting from their soapbox.

Do you have a poetry pet peeve? Hate when people use enjambment, or rhyme "love" with "dove?" (We've all been there.) Write about it!

Is there a particular form that you've stumbled upon? One you've invented? Tell us about it!

These threads can basically be about anything. Remember, ANYBODY can start a new topic, so if you have something poem related, put it in those forums! I propose threads instead of articles for the amount of response they foster, but heck, go ahead and write articles, too. As a sweet little nugget of reward, the person who starts a new topic with the most responses within the next week will be featured as PnQ poet of the week (in a while). If you've already felt the smouldering glow of the spotlight... I'll think of something else. Who knows, maybe a handful of comments will be coming your way.

And remember, the PnQ Poet of the week AND Famous Poets of the week are recurring threads in the Poetry Discussion forum. Our most recent spotlights are on the Chinese philosopher/poet Confucious, and the PnQ veteran Courageous Dreamer. Check them out!

Ha ha, lurkers :p

Nice thread, Sib.

I don't have an article just yet, have to go to work in a few and I always stop by for a very short time to see how you all are doing:)

I want to add a little something to the discussion though: poetry does not need to rhyme. I would like to see more free verse. I know it's scary to try it at first, because it may feel you are writing a letter more than a verse, but it allows for a more personal and intelligent write..when you do it well!

LOOOL

Using 'I' is fine (if you're constantly avoiding its use, your poems risk coming off tense, rigid, forced, and/or cold), repetition is fine, enjambments are fine. If you're going to rhyme, bring some fresh rhymes to the table and by all means avoid Sibs' example of "dove" and "love." Eek.
My personal take on rhyming is if the rhyme is obvious, the poem has a humorous tone. If the rhyming is barely noticeable, it can be taken more seriously. It depends what you're going for :)

Breaking up a poem mid sentence is part of the beauty and freedom of poetry. Give life to your words and utilize spacial breaks to create breaks in thought.

Enjambments can be very clever.

The trick to poetry is making it relatable AND innovative. You have to submerse yourself in the poetry world for some time before you're really aware of all the cliches and overused words/phrases/concepts/metaphors. There are infinitely many!

A poet's first poem is never a masterpiece but if you hone your skill by reading, contemplating advice, writing, etc., you will find your voice and you will continue to improve. The only way from here is up.

Pet peeve...is when I see people who don't even master their native language on here. Basic things like spelling, grammar, punctuation, stuff like that.

"I don't know weather I luv him or not"
"Their is nothing wrong with me"

^^
who could take someone who writes like this serious?

I also dislike reading poetry that shows self pity. Those woe-me poems make me sick to the stomach. We all suffer, in one way or the other, no one gets spared from the hardships of life. I greatly admire those who show inner strength and how they seem to grow from all they have to endure. I derive strength and encouragement from reading their work.

The thing that makes a Haiku powerful is to effectively use juxtaposition and to not use more than one kigo (seasonal word). This poem by Basho resonates well, because he effectively juxtaposed the two images. I also use the 5,7,5 on here, because no one masters the Japanese formats to such a degree they are able to appreciate a deviation from the commonly know format.

Ha, ha, nooooooooooooooo not only teenagers make those mistakes and I am a little tired of pointing the flaws out. It is their own responsibility to learn such elementary stuff..or stay away from literary sites.

No sure this is related to being a poet, but when addressing me directly in a comment on a poem or post on a thread, SPELL my name correctly, doesn't take much effort to do so.

Sorry you feel that way Hellon, it has nothing to do with being a prima donna and if you knew me you would know that is far from a true statement. It is simply asking that my name be spelled properly, period.

Guys guys guys! PUT IT IN THE POETRY FORUMS, THAT'S WHAT THE POINT OF THIS THREAD IS!

Sheesh. Kids these days, I tell ya.

It is reasonable to ask people to spell your name correctly, Sylvia.
Hellon, no need to sling around names like prima donna :\

"Guys guys guys! PUT IT IN THE POETRY FORUMS, THAT'S WHAT THE POINT OF THIS THREAD IS!

Sheesh. Kids these days, I tell ya."

^^^^^

lol XD

Yeah... oops :)

My pet peeves are the overuse of unnecessary filler words. And what Bob said but I don't want to steal his peeves only admire them lol!

I use the words "I" and "my" a LOT. There are certain rhythms of phrases that I'm drawn to, and I feel like my meaning would come across as stilted if I just kept out all my pronouns. (Or maybe I'm just so self-centered I can't fathom a poem without meeee) It would be a nice challenge to try to re-write one of my "I" heavy poems, and see if it can translate the same meaning.

I think it's strange for a poet to think that some words count less than others and should be demoted to "filler" status. Every word counts. All the ins and outs and Is and ands count. The object of a poet is to make them count.

Pet peeves:
-this-
~this~
*this*
@#$%^&+ this <>`=
and semi-colons.

Other pet peeves:
*Archaic language.
*Worse- archaic language being used wrongly.
*Using capital letters everywhere, eg. "I see Rain, oh Heavens, your Water is Life!"
*Being too goddam flowery in general with no actual meaning whatsoever, eg.
"These yearning tears of stardust
will embalm the jewelled fields of your heart
as tattered fairy blossoms fly me into
crystallised cerulean. "
I mean, it just feels like someone has swallowed a thesaurus and gone to the toilet.

^Yes. I think there's definitely such thing as language overload. Not every noun needs a three-syllable adjective in front of it. In fact, most shouldn't have.

I hope this does not offend anyone and if the shoe does not fit do not wear it

A= A hole in the ground
B = butt

My PET PEEVE is when I or anyone else attempts to limit expression

Many times when I am tired I don't know my B from my A

Most of the time my conscience won't allow me to use ones in rating or assume I can tell what the intention of an author was when the author uses the characters on the keyboard to express his or herself using the least or the most characters at their disposal

I have had people tell me I should spell sow sew in the cliche we reap what we sow.

"*Being too goddam flowery in general with no actual meaning whatsoever, eg.
"These yearning tears of stardust
will embalm the jewelled fields of your heart
as tattered fairy blossoms fly me into
crystallised cerulean. "
I mean, it just feels like someone has swallowed a thesaurus and gone to the toilet."

EXACTLY!

Pet peeve:

People being judgemental of other people's poetry.

It isn't really recorded on paper (or computer) to please you, to relate to you, to entice you to read more. It's a creative piece of that person, written for them. It's a bonus that you can read it, it's a privilege in fact. Yes, you can have your opinion - but it doesn't make that person any more or less of a poet.

There, my 2 sence worth. I hope their are others that feel tha same weigh? :)

Psssh. Way to fart on our parade, Mo. Now I feel guilty. Well, not really. Asking someone to not be judgmental is like asking them to be senseless. Obviously, it's great that people are writing to express themselves. If they are doing it on a public website that focuses on reviews and feedback, then it's only natural that people offer their personal opinions- how it is taken depends on the writer's integrity, not the commenter's.

Nah not really - in fact, to give an opinion is one thing (as I stated before Abbie) but most people above are stating their opinion in a way that is definitely laced with their judgement of that person as a writer. Would you like to read over them or are you going to inconvenience me by asking me to post examples?

Yes, public website. Yes, voting system. Yes, everyone's entitled to opinions...

I liked Hellon's viewpoint - see mistakes? Have suggestions? PM them. Everyone's here to learn, and learning comes from CONSTRUCTIVE criticism - not judgement and condemnation.

Anyone out there learning to write or quite happy with their writing techniques just has to read of how they are "juvenile and uncreative" because they mentioned themselves more than twice, and they will cease writing to express themselves.

People use this site as an escapism in some way - writing to let their ideas/feelings/emotions out of their heads and hearts, escapism from day to day life (whether it's mundane or full of chaos and hatred), and here in their cyber-fantasy land people are supposed to be encouraging, supportive, understanding - not getting worked up and exploding in their faces over the misuse of a semi-colon or sentence structure.

And there, dear Abs, is my judgement. :)

I'm not really the sugarcoating type myself. I know many people will take constructive criticism as condemnation and "explosions in their face", regardless of how it is phrased or displayed. There is a comment section for comments. I find it helps to share opinions or judgments about poetry. It's much more interesting than hiding it away in a PM, and it is what this site is about. So what if someone says your grammar is incorrect? We are meant to be writers here, primarily. If we use this site as a method for escapism, fine. Ignore the comments. State on your profile that you don't want any negative feedback. As I said, how feedback is taken depends on the writer.

Well yeah, comment on it then... doesn't matter which way it's done - just make suggestions, rather than crap them out over it. MOST people do this. Fantastic.

Some people dont.

Im all for constructive criticism. I'd like to know what's right/wrong with my writing way more than just receiving a vote. But, if I decide to write my poetry in a certain way, I dont want to be told Im just writing an essay instead of free verse because it doesn't fit into that person's box of goodies they keep under their poetry blanket.

True. That's when you open up a discussion thread in the poetry section about writing free verse, PMing that supposedly naive person with the link and inviting them to vomit out their judgments so you respond to them, and others, in style and learn stuff. And there you have a big juicy discussion about poetry and make sibyllene happy at last.

Im going to go find one your poems to comment on Abbie...

You both have good points, for some its escapism for others its a place to come to improve. Its up to us as individuals how we handle that

If I see a poem that is written badly but from the heart and you can tell that person is in emotional turmoil I comment on the emotion of the poem not the mistakes, if that person hangs around and asks for help I'll try and help

So I think you are both right

Nick, come down off that fence... surely it's making your butt cheeks hurt?

You're killing me with the Abbie crap. Come and get me, you pink fairy dragon. I'm shivering in me booties.

Yeah... I know. :)

Sorry Abby. Just bringing it all together.

Arrrrr...

My butt cheeks are fine thanks clenched maybe but just fine :P

Sorry I did read some, just not all the posts...
however
pet peeve?..pet peeve?..pet peeveeeeess?

HA I reallyy get annoyed when people comment and then give you suggestions that actually change the Whole meaning of the "sentence, stanze, poem ..etc"
I know Brit* suffers from that as well :P
But it's really silly like

looking for my..etc

^^^
mmm why don't you say
gleaming for my ..?
it really sounds better..
and more POETIC
"look" is just too simple/overused... etc etc
------------
gleaming doesn't even make sense there, and I always have people suggesting stuff like that.

And I really hate it when people paste on my poems the same comment they pasted over Sylvia's, joe's, and Brit's work..etc
it's pathetic and I will always copy it back on THEIR work -_-

So... I was thinking, can I move this to the Poetry Discussion forum? I'm gonna do that and you can switch it back if you want to, Sibs, since it's your thread :)

By the way, everybody is losing at this. Losing losers.

I dont like when people use words that dont add anything to the poem, every word should have a purpose and not just to make the poem rhyme or add another syllable to conform to a structure. Another pet peeve is when people go out of their way to leave out 'filler' words like and, the, etc. Their absence often fragments a poem and upsets the rhythm for me. Forced rhyming is a no no, although we are nearly all guilty of it at one point or another..

"every word should have a purpose"

Agreed. I do a bad job of following it sometimes, but that's my general philosophy. I also think it gets more and more essential the shorter the poem is. There's no room for wasted space in a haiku, for example.

Colm, Colm.... you're not an Irish lad, are you? I got hit on by a nice Colm once... begged me for a kiss for a good hour. Oh, the good old days.

I did not. I'm nothing if not a tease.

I am an Irish lad indeed. Although not the Colm from your tale Im sure, I mean I would never beg a girl to kiss me, well not for so long as an hour anyway...

Translated: "I'm Colm and I don't need to beg!" : D

Where in Ireland are you from? Don't feel bad ignoring that if you don't want to give out information. It's just that I was in Galway for school and have waves of terrible nostalgia sometimes.

All of you: check out Michael D. Nalley's new thread on Khalil Gibran, one of the most beloved poets in the world!

Well you were close, the literal translation is that Im far too handsome and cool to need to beg.. haha

Im not from Galway but Ive been there many times, its a very nice part of the country

So far, Michael is winning by default.