I Hate Poetry!

How do you feel about music lyrics?

Hey there! Great questions.

I think human existence is often an indefinite, oscillating experience. Obviously, people can express themselves artistically in a million different ways. For those of us inclined towards words, poetry is a symbolic lifting off of the constraints of prose in form and rules to better match our undefined selves. Even in a happy, ordered life, a lot of things (sometimes that happiness itself) exist largely undefined. You could say prose allows one to express this idea, which in many ways it does. But poetry still has some strange way of (for me at least) channeling the most abstract and intangible parts of my self. Because I am no longer confined to the idea of a "sentence," a gateway opens.

That is my attempt to analyze the situation. Mostly, poetry just happens for me. I often don't think "Now I will write a poem" and proceed forward. I often don't consciously do it over prose.

So I don't know if any of that is helpful, but there you go.

Welcome, Tom - great question. Here's my testimony, just for the sake of it:

I don't love all dogs. I don't love all music. I don't even love all rock music - and I certainly don't hate all rap music. I don't love all pizza, and I don't hate all cats.

And I sure don't love all poetry.

To be blunt, a lot of it is crap. Wait - let me rephrase that. A lot of it leaves me cold, and I suspect that a lot of poetry leaves everyone cold, save the poet oneself.

And I don't feel guilty anymore about not enjoying every poem I read - no pressure. The ones I *do* enjoy, I relish heartily.

I feel the same way about a lot of prose and a lot of music too - a lot of it is crap. Truth be told, a lot of ANYTHING is crap. But, as with poetry, there's enough good in any genre to like (or think of as crap).

But when it's good, it delights me, and the art of a poem can astonish and thrill me. If it doesn't, it doesn't. But the brilliance of a great poem is more than worth the effort of sloshing, grimacing and plugging one's nose, through the crappy ones.

I've subscribed to a couple of poem-a-day services, and one of them has - in my opinion - sent nothing but pompous dross for weeks. The poems have sounded contrived, like people trying to Write Poetry. I kind of resent that sort of stuff being put up as Good; the implication is that if you can understand it, it's not good poetry. Yuck.

But there is lots of good poetry around too - and it doesn't need hard work to enjoy. It just needs to be read, not as capital-P Poetry, but merely as something to read. That, to me, is the thing.

And yes, I may ask myself, "How did I get here?" Because a friend told me good things were going on here - things worth reading. But while I was snooping around and impersonating a poet, I started, um, writing poems.

And, occasionally, raving.

Many people spend significant parts of their lives watching sports. I hate watching sports, have never done so, and cannot understand the appeal. And yet I have never come into a forum full of sports fans with a topic titled "I hate sports!" and questioned them about the irresistible charms of college football or whatever it is. Yes, I understand you are not attacking, but this rubbed me the wrong way for whatever reason. /end rant.

Poetry has always been a major part of my life. My father read me Pushkin when I was still in the cradle. Due to some traumatic developments I haven't written (or at least saved) my poetry till very recently. Now I both read it, write it, and sell it.

A good way to connect to poetry on an emotional level is to go to poetry readings, or to arrange a "favorite poem" reading with your friends - each to bring and read a favorite poem (not one's own). I've organized a number of such readings and even non-poetry lovers seem to enjoy this.

TomHarrington said:

Some of my poetry consuming friends have suggested that if I were to learn about poetry, on an academic level, I might be able to at least gain an appreciation for it.

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SCREW THAT ADVICE.


We are all different. That may very well work for you. I'm sure it has worked for others.

My take...I get into the rhythm of words. I trip on poetry for the sound of GOOD poetry. I know in my heart that looking at it academically would FOREVER KILL poetry for me.

If you can't find a way in...move on to door number 2. Not everybody has to enjoy poetry. My advice...let it bend you backwards with its rhythm...let the words themselves transfix you. Don't try to see the old bitchy wizard behind the curtain. Who gives a shit that he is even there. WORDS DAZZLE. LET THEM.

TomHarrington said:

Anyway, if you feel in the sharing mood then I invite you to testify! Do you write poetry as a recreation or do you feel somehow compelled to create it? As a reader, what does poetry do for you, or what need does it fulfill? With as much candor and clarity as you're able to muster, tell me: What's all the fuss about this poetry business?

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Q: What's all the fuss about this poetry business?
A: I have a deep love of words and I get high on the magic they possess when strung together correctly.

Q: Do you write poetry as a recreation or do you feel somehow compelled to create it?
A: I definitely feel compelled to write it. I am first and foremost a fiction writer. Poetry is my calisthenics. I always write poetry before I leap down into whatever fictional world I am working on. I feel I need to bend and stretch playfully through poetry before I can take on the more daunting task of crafting fiction. So it is a compulsion...like stretching prior to a running marathon.

Q: As a reader, what does poetry do for you, or what need does it fulfill?
A: Good poetry knocks my socks off...makes my mind do somersaults and I love that feeling. I like to get blown away by words and poetry is the best quick high when it comes to words. The need it fulfills is just the need to dose on rhythm...it's a deep need and I love to get my fix.

TomHarrington said:

Anyway, if you feel in the sharing mood then I invite you to testify! Do you write poetry as a recreation or do you feel somehow compelled to create it? As a reader, what does poetry do for you, or what need does it fulfill? With as much candor and clarity as you're able to muster, tell me: What's all the fuss about this poetry business?

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For me, poetry is similar to sports. I enjoy it a lot more when I am the participant. As others have said. There might be poetry out there that you would like, and it does not have to be poetry often found in the rooms of academia.

To answer your questions .. I write poetry when the mood strikes and there are a bunch of words flying in my head that need to be put on paper. I don't often read poetry, but I have a few favorites that 'speak to me'. (I get more from it when I write it.) And finally... I haven't noticed all the fuss. You may be referring to those who may feel themselves to seem more 'elite' because they dabble in poetry, or study it. But you'd find that in almost any situation. There are people who feel more elite because they drive European cars, or because they can rub their tummy and pat their heads at the same time.. It does not matter. If you have an interest in poetry, give it a whirl, if not.. don't.

KTC said:

Q: What's all the fuss about this poetry business?
A: I have a deep love of words and I get high on the magic they possess when strung together correctly.

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Yes. What he said.

TomHarrington said:

That’s not entirely true. I was being deliberately provocative to solicit readership. I say this to my shame and beg forgiveness. But while you’re already here...
Almost lost me here.

It would’ve been more accurate to say that I don’t "get" poetry. I don’t respond to it on an emotional level and can’t appreciate it on an intellectual one. I enjoy the occasional dirty limerick as much as anyone else might, provided it’s genuinely clever, but the other stuff? No thanks.
I have to say that you've definitely lost me here. I see a few replies have been posted by good people who have given you the benefit of the doubt.
I just don't think you're being serious.

Some of my poetry consuming friends have suggested that if I were to learn about poetry, on an academic level, I might be able to at least gain an appreciation for it. But then I would just feel like I was trying too hard to enjoy something that I clearly don’t.

And honestly, don’t mistake this as some kind of attack on poetry. Some people can gaze at a stereogram until their eyes bleed and never see the cryptic image. In the same sense, I feel like I have some kind of poetry deficit. I blame myself, not the art form or the masters of it.

It serves some basic human need, and I don’t use the word ‘need’ carelessly here. One of my friends says she would feel "stripped of her humanity" if she were not allowed to read or write poetry. I have no reason to believe she’s lying, and I’ll dare to assume we all agree there’s more to life than that which keeps us alive. That almost sounded poetic.

Anyway, if you feel in the sharing mood then I invite you to testify! Do you write poetry as a recreation or do you feel somehow compelled to create it? As a reader, what does poetry do for you, or what need does it fulfill? With as much candor and clarity as you're able to muster, tell me: What's all the fuss about this poetry business?

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In the unlikely event that I am wrong, I would suggest you read the occaisional poem, just in case your tastes change.
(I remember a time when I didn't like beer!)

KTC said:

Q: What's all the fuss about this poetry business?
A: I have a deep love of words and I get high on the magic they possess when strung together correctly.

Q: Do you write poetry as a recreation or do you feel somehow compelled to create it?
A: I definitely feel compelled to write it. I am first and foremost a fiction writer. Poetry is my calisthenics. I always write poetry before I leap down into whatever fictional world I am working on. I feel I need to bend and stretch playfully through poetry before I can take on the more daunting task of crafting fiction. So it is a compulsion...like stretching prior to a running marathon.

Q: As a reader, what does poetry do for you, or what need does it fulfill?
A: Good poetry knocks my socks off...makes my mind do somersaults and I love that feeling. I like to get blown away by words and poetry is the best quick high when it comes to words. The need it fulfills is just the need to dose on rhythm...it's a deep need and I love to get my fix.

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I couldn't come up with better answers than these! They are my thoughts exactly. The only thing I could possible add is that I think poetry needs to be verbalized to be really appreciated. Many times, if I read a poem aloud, something clicks that wasn't there before; specifically, the rhythm comes out, and the poems literally sings for me.

I started writing poetry with a fixed meter and rhyme, and I have to confess that free style poetry didn't appeal much to me -- at the beginning. I just couldn't feel the rhythm. But the more I read, especially the more I read out loud, the more feeling I got from it. Like others have already said, I just don't 'get' some poems, and I don't like certain styles, but some poems hit me hard--when the written words, and the unwritten ones that the written words evoke in my mind, come together.

I don't consider myself primarily a poet, but every once in a while, I manage to put a few words together that say pretty much what I want, and then I post the poem here, and people whose poetic talent is much greater than mine share their thoughts and my poems become better.

What's all the fuss about this poetry business?

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I guess my answer would be that poetry is a lack of 'fuss'. In a good poem, each word is as important as every other word--and the unimportant words just aren't there.

Welcome to the Poetry Forum, and don't dwell on the poems that don't appeal to you. You probably will enjoy some of the poems here, and maybe they'll speak to you.

I am not a poetry lover by any means and I can't write it to save my life. The first time I appreciated a poem, really appreciated it (outside of Robert Frost, though we analyzed it to death in English class and it pretty much killed any enthusiasm I had going for it) was in my college lit class.

We had a book of poems and short stories and our assignment was to write a 3-5 page paper talking about the piece and what it meant to us. I was thumbing through it one day and one poem just hit me.

It's by Langston Hughes I believe. It's called The Island.

Wave of Sorrow, do not drown me now,
I see the island still ahead somehow.
I see the island and the sands are fair,
Wave of Sorrow, take me there.

I probably messed up the line breaks but this is the only poem I can remember and it was ten years ago that I read it. This poem hit me because it related in so few words exactly how I felt. At the time I was dealing with family health issues, I'd left high school when I was sixteen because I couldn't stand the people there and went to college there in hopes of finding a challenge (I loved it).

I was the only one in an entire class of 30 people it even touched. No one else got it, it didn't connect to anyone else or mean anything to them. It was just another poem. Each person in that class found a different piece that they connected to.

My professor actually tried to persuade me to use a longer piece, but I was adamant, and I did not disappoint him with my resulting five page paper which he turned into an honor paper.

I guess my point is sometimes you'll find something that says everything you've ever wanted to say in that moment with so few words in such a beautiful order that it just knocks you over. That's how this poem was for me and I still love it. I can't say that about any other poem. I've enjoyed some since, but none hit me like this one. I certainly don't sit around and read poetry.

Maybe someday you'll find a poem that does that to you. Anyway, that's what the fuss over poetry is to me, on this piece anyway, I can catch a glimpse as to why some people are crazy for it.

I love poetry. It allows one to capture a moment, a sentiment or a burning desire.

I spent 13 years writing poetry and reading poetry exclusively, until unseen forces brought me back to fiction.

It ain't all unaccessable.

Raymond Carver
YOUR DOG DIES
it gets run over by a van.
you find it at the side of the road
and bury it.
you feel bad about it.
you feel bad personally,
but you feel bad for your daughter
because it was her pet,
and she loved it so.
she used to croon to it
and let it sleep in her bed.
you write a poem about it.
you call it a poem for your daughter,
about the dog getting run over by a van
and how you looked after it,
took it out into the woods
and buried it deep, deep,
and that poem turns out so good
you're almost glad the little dog
was run over, or else you'd never
have written that good poem.
then you sit down to write
a poem about writing a poem
about the death of that dog,
but while you're writing you
hear a woman scream
your name, your first name,
both syllables,
and your heart stops.
after a minute, you continue writing.
she screams again.
you wonder how long this can go on.


Charles Bukowski - Flophouse
you haven't lived
until you've been in a
flophouse
with nothing but one
light bulb
and 56 men
squeezed together
on cots
with everybody
snoring
at once
and some of those
snores
so
deep and
gross and
unbelievable-
dark
snotty
gross
subhuman
wheezings
from hell
itself.
your mind
almost breaks
under those
death-like
sounds
and the
intermingling
odors:
hard
unwashed socks
pissed and
shitted
underwear
and over it all
slowly circulating
air
much like that
emanating from
uncovered
garbage
cans.
and those
bodies
in the dark
fat and
thin
and
bent
some
legless
armless
some
mindless
and worst of
all:
the total
absence of
hope
it shrouds
them
covers them
totally.
it's not
bearable.
you get
up
go out
walk the
streets
up and
down
sidewalks
past buildings
around the
corner
and back
up
the same
street
thinking
those men
were all
children
once
what has happened
to
them?
and what has
happened
to
me?
it's dark
and cold
out
here.

Yes, but you can't really post something that touches you and expect it to touch someone else. Accessible is sometimes just a way of saying that it touches you. What is accessible to one may not be accessible to another. It's subjective.

Accessible can also mean that it is written an a language and diction that is not long dead, does not subscribe to devices that now appear formulaic, and reaches out to people on a level that is not elitist.

Maybe it's just got a ramp and handrails.

Shakespeare wrote in the common language of his time. Modern poets write in the common language of theirs.

Are we gonna have the AW anthology soon, Mr. In a Hat?

Pls see latest post in the Anthology thread, Ms Bronco. /taps ruler on desk/

Now, back to our quibbling.

This is what made me love poetry:

Western wind, when will thou blow?
The small rain down can rain.
Christ, if my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again!

Medievalist said:

This is what made me love poetry:

Western wind, when will thou blow?
The small rain down can rain.
Christ, if my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again!

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I wouldn't say that made me love poetry - it certainly made me love itself - but that is the piece that showed me that even something 600 years old can be about me. (Which is also why I quoted it in the Raising AQ Consciousness thread in Office Party a few weeks ago Other people could post stuff they love ther too, hinthinthint.)

C.bronco said:

Accessible can also mean that it is written an a language and diction that is not long dead, does not subscribe to devices that now appear formulaic, and reaches out to people on a level that is not elitist.

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True...and I think this is more like what it means. But still...I think accessible poetry is poetry that reaches you. You cannot say 'this is accessible poetry' because 'accessible poetry' might be different for every reader.

poetinahat said:

Maybe it's just got a ramp and handrails.

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I like this. If this is the case, then also there are those damn speedbumps along the way. Bounce, bounce. What the hell was that! Oh...it was an inaccessible poem. Damn it! I'll just keep on truckin'.