Originally Posted by sixxx(sic)six

god this is gettin' good.....but seems like itz gettin' a lil' heated....let me throw some water on the flame

...quiet, that is perhaps the smartest, most intelligent, thought provokin' thing you've ever said....and i don't even agree with all of it.....yeeee!!!!!

anywho, i got nuttin' new to add....just want everyone to take a breather.....oooh, and i think a subforum would be kool, but whether or not it works.....i dunno.....anywho, i'm off to read someone's poetry....muwahahahaha

Originally Posted by (antihero)

Is there really any point to saying crap like this? The ONLY person in the entire poetry forum who gives thorough, thought-out analyses is sixxx(sic)six, and I've decided that I'm going to be his sidekick, since I'm being driven to madness here.

First of all, the most important thing I learned in college is that yes, there IS such a thing as a bad poem in someone's eyes. A poem can be called "bad" without a person feeling a sense of guilt, and without a poet feeling terrible about himself. My professor tore me a new asshole everytime I did something that was gross, and 99% of the time, I agreed. I can't tell you how many times on this forum I've seen someone call a poem bad or lacking, and have someone else run up and say "there's no such thing as a bad poem. that's just your opinion! blah blah blah fucking blah."

Guess what, Sherlock? Of COURSE it's just a fucking opinion. Unless it's science, everything is an opinion... and some might even argue that some sciences are opinion-based. However, does that mean that a poet should throw all negative criticism into the crapper? Nope. In fact, negative criticism should be dissected more meticulously than positive criticism. If someone just says "wheee, I like it! You write good stuff LOL!" what does that do for the poet? Absolutely nothing. You can give a positive critique, for sure, but if you don't say exactly why you liked it, you aren't serving any purpose. With negative criticism, the poet is being given something to work with. He doesn't have to agree with all negative criticism, and can throw away a lot of it if he wants, but he now has an idea of what people want from his work.

I got all enraged when I read some thread where sixxx critiqued a poem, and Ditto jumped on his back, saying she thoroughly disagreed with certain points, and that he shouldn't be telling her how to write. Two points should be made:

1) It doesn't freaking matter what your critique of his critique is, and
2) If a critique of a poem doesn't tell the poet how to write, then what exactly the FIG does it do?

What do you accomplish by criticizing the critic? Nothing. Stick to the goddamn poem. You can mention disagreeing with a critic's specific view, and then go into your own, but incessant blah-blah-blahing about how this critic should and shouldn't do this-and-that is just useless. I myself only think that three or four poets on all of Darkforum are any good, but I'm not about to rip on someone if he or she gives a glowing review of a poet I don't like, or a scathing review of a poet I do like.

It's harder to critique stuff here because I don't think most of the people who write poetry here are poets, or even consider themselves to be poets. In my opinion, this board is nothing more than an extension of the Online Journals board, only with more line breaks and a lot of rhyming. Therefore, a lot of people think that if you're ripping on their poem, then you're ripping on their journal entry, and are therefore ripping on their thoughts & emotions & life itself. In simple terms: no. No, if I say your poem is lame, I don't mean your life is lame. What I DO mean is that the poem you wrote to describe your thoughts and emotions is lame. If you write it as a poem, then it's a poem. Poetry is art, and art is wide open to criticism.

Therefore, I review each and every poem I read as though it's written by a person who wants to write poetry, simply because I can, and it's easier for me. I think everybody who gives the "It's good! You have real talent!" responses should be kicked in the pants, but don't let that stop you from doing it. I suppose you should just bear in mind that you're totally wasting your time, and giving the writer much less than he or she deserves. EVERYONE who writes a poem deserves a good critique, and if you don't have the energy to give one, then don't give anything at all.

For instance, my poetry thread gets a decent number of views, but not many responses, except for a few people who regularly check it out. In my opinion, that's a million times better than a crapload of one-sentence critiques calling it "great" and "deep."

This place needs to grow a pair and be more open to any and all opinions. We also need people who actually critique poems, of which there is only one (that I know of) right now. Maybe we need a "Poetry Gestapo" of sorts, to make sure that poems are actually being treated as poems, and critiques aren't mere fluff. Meh... somebody get to work on that.

Originally Posted by Sybs

That's a great poem!


*waits to be smacked*

Originally Posted by white lily

well.......sic the only heated one here is antihero.

Originally Posted by (antihero)

GRRRRRRR I DON'T RESPECT YOUR OPINION I AM BRUTISH AND UNREASONABLE I DEMAND AN APOLOGY!!1111

Originally Posted by Quiet.....

well, this thread used to be cool....

i guess i'll just go in the corner and play with my dingy now..

Originally Posted by Quiet.....

yeah, and make sure your ideas are gnarly. radical is also acceptable.

Originally Posted by white lily

hmm antihero I sense a bit of hostility here?