How

how do you judge a poem?
I judge by how much it touches me, but it seems we all look for different things in a poem. What kind of things do we/you all look for?

I judge mainly on how well the poem flows, and how much the poem means to me. If it is a funny poem about something like mice, (just an example) I probably would not even bother to rate it at all, as funny poems don't mean much to me. Grammar and spelling are always important, however.

whether a poem grabs my attention or not, or if someone asks to be judged. i usually forget if they don't. if it sucks, I conveniently forget if they do.

ummm... i have to be able to relate to it, or they have to make it seem like i can relate to it... if a poem doesn't flow well, or have a good rhythm to it, i don't really like it that much... and i actually really don't like when people constantly use gihugant words, that i don't understand, in every line... but i always give a 5 and a good comment to the ones i can relate to!

Forever♥Yours

Nice message and big words..

I don’t ‘judge’ poetry. (Though it may seem obvious) A reader’s interpretations are heavily determined by the reader, as much as by the poem. Poetry often judges us and tells us as much about ourselves as we can about the poem. Poetry is a very probing and personal medium.

What I personally enjoy is:

It is often very obvious whether a writer knows what they are writing, understands the mechanics and tools use to create poetry. I like poetry which demonstrates a writer knows what they are doing and is fluent in the medium. Poetry is a language and I believe the best poetry is written by people (regardless of subject) who are fluent. As with any language, those who take the time and effort to speak and use it well will be the ones who ensure they are accessible to a wider range of people, thus their work and ideas have more potential and life.

As well, a poet who demonstrates fluency shows they are passionate and dedicated to poetry, they show that they put their all into not simply writing things, but understanding and creating life with what they write. These are the people who really have something to say because these are the people who will go to any length and through any hardship and struggle to get it right, these are the writes who never stop learning and developing their ability. They compel us and go through hardships to reach an audience, these are the people who are truly fluent. These are poets.