'You' trap

I am not downgrading anyones work here, because i would be downgrading my own work, as well.

But I've come to this theory that the word 'You' is nothing but confusing.
Who is 'you'?
'You' could be anyone, anything. I feel describing the who in the sentance has become more important that just lazily putting 'you' in place of the description.

(example from my own work)

Sorry isn't enough
To forgive everything i do.
It’s not enough,
To take away all the pain I've put you threw.

I didn't mean
To do those things i did
I don't know what else to say,
But the sorrow in you
I want to forever rid.

Maybe some other time,
I'll be better then i am now.
I wouldn't have done anything
To make you hurt and wondering how

I do love you,
I'm human. I make mistakes
If you cant understand,
In my heart will forever ache.

Sorry isn't enough,
To forgive everything I do.
But it is enough
To somehow say I love you.
----------------------------------------

having read that, the person automatically thinks 'You' is someone whom i love.
True.
But they also see it firstly as someone who im IN-love with.
....not what i was trying to accomplish in this story.

See, when i put 'you' in that piece, i wasnt trying to impress the reader. But i found myself getting a little irked that people were seeing the wrong side of the poem when i was getting thie piece critiqued.
They put 'you trap' stamped all over the place.

So. not only do i try not to use 'you' anymore. But i've found my horizon broadening now that i describe who 'you' is. This creates a great sence of imagry and meaning in my poem, because 'you' could be any person.

I dont know, what do you poem-and-quoters think on the subject? Agree? Disagree? Let me know whats going on in your head about this subject, please.

'To take away all the pain I've put you threw. '

To take away all the pain I've put you through.

-Lyd

Sometimes you is used to create ambiguity. Usually in a paper you have to say the reader, but in a poem that would be awkward. The narrator may be speaking to or about a specific character in the poem but also wishes it to apply directly to the reader, so they use you to create the feeling that the author is speaking to both at the same time.

Mmm... I disagree with you there in most cases. This may just be me, but the majority of times I write are to say something to someone that I can't/wouldn't/shouldn't say to them in real life... except of course I make an effort to state it a lot more eloquently than if I was just speaking to someone's face, because there's a lot more time to think... but I digress.

If people misinterpret the 'you', that's fine. One of the many beauties of poetry is that, written in some fashions, the message can be interpreted in different ways, it can mean different things to different people. I've had the same thing happen to me, with people assuming I was talking about someone I was in love with, but people will always bring their own experiences to the table, which is perfectly normal, as long as they do get something from the poem.

Um, so, in conclusion... I like "you". Took me a while to get there!