HAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. That's the funniest thing I've ever read in the poetry section. What "contemporary garbage" are you referring to?

I'm interested to know what you're referring to as well Madpoet... are they other peoples personal chapbooks or something? (don't jump all over the guy... perhaps he manages to only read the good stuff Df puts out.)

Anyway, I think we all can agree that more honest critique needs to be happening out there, but you've got to give it to get it. And no, not everyone is willing to reciprocate, but I'm sure the people in this thread are, so that's a start.

Ahem... you also need to actually write and post poems in order for people to comment/critique them... hint, hint.

eh i couldn't give names (i'd have to bother going back to them!) but i've seen too much bland, uninteresting stuff that i can't relate to. Almost everything local (Aus) is pastoral *vomit*. Then there's that "I come from a strange land..." shit that wins awards. And i've heard some that sounded like anecdotes.
Am I alone on this?
Well that's my own experiences through various bookstores and radio shows and competitions *shrugs*


FD, was that hint for me? I don't write anymore. This well's gone dry (a cliche )

It's a hint for all of you who haven't been writing lately.

Ya know, I was just thinking that I really don't follow too many 'new' poets. At least not from the last 25 years or so... Some people I know personally, and are fond of, sure... but that's it, and that's interesting to me.

I have too agree with madpoet, most of the "great poetry" that I had to read in school or uni sucked and I hated it. Sure there are some poems that are published that I was exposed to that was great, but most of it I wanted to ri[ my eyes out before having to read again. Might of been the age and environment that I was, or not, I don't know. But I do find more interesting poetry in here then I ever did in school or published books....*except the few books that I have been published in, those had some good stuff in it*.

i also agree with madpoet.. i have gone in search of new and interesting poetry only to find "cowboy poetry," "1000 new love poems," and crap like that. its pretty hard to come across recently published poetry that is worth the time. as for the older stuff, the romantics were great.

i cant remember who it was, but earlier in the conversation they had said that few of the people who post poetry here actually read poetry. i agree completely. its easy to tell that many people are just spewing stuff out and waiting for other poets to say "good job, youre special" and give them a pat on the back.

just going through and picking out random threads to read, it felt as though there was no effort put into many of the poems. quite a few had major typos, spelling mistakes, and grammar mistakes. its alright if that happens every now and then, but if its all the time it is probably due to a lack of care for their poetry.

back to the subject matter.. i agree that more replying needs to be done. yes, i realize that im new, so im sure my opinion wont count for as much.. but i just wanted to let you guys knwo that the lack of constructive criticsim was very noticable right away. i will personally try my best to make replies, but i cant guarantee too much. i find it very difficult to leave a response if i dont like the poetry at all.. i feel like too much of a jerk just pointing out faults.

anyways, thats it for now.

I read extremely little, mainly due to aforementioned reasons. The only stuff i've been exposed to is mainly early 20thC french poets, the Romantics, and some good english/american 20thC stuff. Other than that, influence comes from music lyrics and poetic novelists. It's hard to find stuff we can relate to.

black you oppinion counts for just as much as everyone elses oppinion does. if you read something there is alwas something good about it, even if it is structure of the poem, a phrase or an idea of the poem. mention a good thing and then a few ideas of how to improve the poem, if the writer doesn't want to improve then you know not to go into that thread again.

Yous guys are reading the wrong stuff. Yeah, unless you're in actual creative writing courses, the stuff you read in school is gonna be the boring stuff that everyone in the universe has read over and over. If I read one more Robert Frost poem, I'm going to start murdering people.

But yeah, you need to in on what's happening in poetry NOW. Keep your eyes on the offbeat, surrealist, abstract stuff that's on the forefront. A lot of it can be found on the Internet, actually; you just have to know where to look. Look at FuckDoll's 'zine thread and check those places out. I recommend www.sidereality.com and www.canwehaveourballback.com as good starting points.

yeah, i read some of those links.

so have we come to any conclusion?

My only thought on DF poetry is that people need to use the Editing Room early and often.