Poetry

[Knight]

Just wondering what you all think of poetry. I started to write poetry now just because it's easier and faster than writing out stories or scenes etc. You like my sig?

Any other people who like to write (doesn't have to be poetry) ?

 

[Irvy]

Yeah, I've found poetry to be a great way to get stuff out that is hard to express in other ways. I used to go to a poetry evening in Belfast every month, was great fun, reading my poetry and listening to other people's. And it's a hell of alot cheaper than therapy!

 

[GoneA]

Yes, I love to writer.

You should keep writing poetry, it's a good way to express yourself.

 

[DC_DEEP]

I love poetry, but it has to be just right. I hated it, until one of my HS English teachers had us read Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods On A Snowy Evening" and then analyze it in a number of different ways. One day, we just looked at the form. Next day, just the word choices. Next was imagery, and then we finished with emotion and deeper meanings. I was hooked. I have written some, but I have to be inspired. Most of my poetry has been very specific, and written especially for people in my life whom I love dearly and who inspire me.

 

[Irvy]

If anyone's interested, here's one of my poems. I don't have it in text format on this computer, but I have a recording I made online, so I'll link to it.

http://www.virens.co.uk/poems/the_plan.wma

 

[AMikkell]

I like poetry, utilizing words in imaginative ways. However, I feel that most everything has been said before, and in better ways than I could say it, so I stick with nonsense, or humor.

 

[absinthium]

Originally posted by Axex@Oct 26 2005, 09:27 PM
I think schools need to do a larger poetry unit as well as disection of poems. Learning how to analyze writing is extremely important and I don't think my school has touched on it enough. When (rarely) we look over a poem, it's not what we think. We're force fed what we should know about the poem. What it means, what the importance of a certain line is. Makes me sick! uke:

[post=355655]Quoted post[/post]​

I couldn't agree more. School really doesn't teach you to think for yourself so much as brainwash you and make you memorize dry facts. When we studied poetry in high school, we would read a poem from a given writer, learn what the ONLY meaning to their poem was, (never mind they usually died at least 50 years before we were reading it and no one ever asked their opinion as to what their work meant,) and get a brief biography of said writer.

Very lame.

I write poetry. Not so much now as I have in the past. It waxes and wanes. I tend to be a horrible poetry snob, which is an entirely retarded occupation nowadays. Some of the best poetry I've ever read has been written by my peers, as well as some of the shittiest. Still, I love reading the work of people I know. It's one of the most personal forms of expression, and you're not likely to get a more clear insight as to who a person is than by reading their poetry.

 

[B_HappyHammer1977]

I can do really good poetry...problem is it's always in my head...I think 'wow, that's quite good, I'll remember that'. Five minutes later...gone.

*Must remember to buy a pad and pen!*

 

[absinthium]

Originally posted by HappyHammer1977@Oct 27 2005, 09:04 AM
I can do really good poetry...problem is it's always in my head...I think 'wow, that's quite good, I'll remember that'. Five minutes later...gone.

*Must remember to buy a pad and pen!*

[post=355843]Quoted post[/post]​

That happens to me when I'm driving. I need to invest in a handheld tape recorder and pretend I'm Johnny Depp in "Fear and Loathing."

 

[DC_DEEP]

Originally posted by absinthium@Oct 27 2005, 08:47 AM
School really doesn't teach you to think for yourself so much as brainwash you and make you memorize dry facts. When we studied poetry in high school, we would read a poem from a given writer, learn what the ONLY meaning to their poem was, (never mind they usually died at least 50 years before we were reading it and no one ever asked their opinion as to what their work meant,) and get a brief biography of said writer.

[post=355839]Quoted post[/post]​

So true. Until I had the teacher I mentioned above, our poetry experience was "Ok you all read the poem... purty, ain't it?" and not much else. I was lucky to occasionally get a good teacher here and there. I was a junior in college before I actually had a history teacher who cared little about memorizing names and dates, and forced us (if we wanted a passing grade) to understand WHY any of that stuff happened, and why it was pertinent to our lives today. Our exams were 3 or 4 definitions, 3 or 4 "names & dates" type questions, and 3 or 4 pages of essay questions. Really tough, but at least interesting.

But I digress; the poetry that really catches my attention generally has a more complex meter and rhyme scheme than most. Probably my attraction to asymmetrical balance, rather than symmetrical.

 

[DC_DEEP]

My example of bad poetry:

I went to town, and saw a clown,
All on a summer's day.
He wore a frown as he went down
Because I wouldn't pay.

A stanza from one that I wrote (I know it's not great, but poetry is not my strong suite):

My day begins when I see your face,
Nothing else makes the sunlight real.
And joy floods through me, sharp and swift.
I hold fast to you, my saving grace…
I love you with passion, and with zeal.
This love for you, the first and last thing that I feel.

A bit unctious, I admit, but without the context of the whole poem and the situation, it loses something.

 

[B_HappyHammer1977]

Originally posted by absinthium+Oct 27 2005, 02:14 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(absinthium &#064; Oct 27 2005, 02:14 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-HappyHammer1977@Oct 27 2005, 09:04 AM
I can do really good poetry...problem is it&#39;s always in my head...I think &#39;wow, that&#39;s quite good, I&#39;ll remember that&#39;. Five minutes later...gone.

*Must remember to buy a pad and pen&#33;*

[post=355843]Quoted post[/post]​

That happens to me when I&#39;m driving. I need to invest in a handheld tape recorder and pretend I&#39;m Johnny Depp in "Fear and Loathing."

[post=355846]Quoted post[/post]​

[/b][/quote]


...I&#39;d just end up pretending I&#39;m Dale Cooper&#33; "Diane, discovered a damn fine chery pie..."

 

[hippyscum]

I used to write poetry/lyrics - nothing incendiary, it was mostly just angsty teen stuff that you write when you&#39;re 14 (thank you, Kurt Cobain). Now I msotly write screenplays, I finished my first at 16, although it&#39;s proving difficult to sell, coming from the Middle Of Nowhere, Scotland, and considering it&#39;s about double the length that screenplays should be... but meh, I love writing stuff in general.

 

[B_HappyHammer1977]

Originally posted by hippyscum@Oct 27 2005, 03:40 PM
I used to write poetry/lyrics - nothing incendiary, it was mostly just angsty teen stuff that you write when you&#39;re 14 (thank you, Kurt Cobain). Now I msotly write screenplays, I finished my first at 16, although it&#39;s proving difficult to sell, coming from the Middle Of Nowhere, Scotland, and considering it&#39;s about double the length that screenplays should be... but meh, I love writing stuff in general.

[post=355900]Quoted post[/post]​

Have you seen any of Paddy Constandines&#39; work? Bit rough and ready, but if he can do it, I bet you can too.

 

[B_DoubleMeatWhopper]

I write poetry, but it&#39;s for myself. As an English lit major, I stand in awe of the great poets of the English language. I could never hold a candle to Shakespeare, Keats, Byron, etc., so I don&#39;t feel that my attempts are worthy to put on display. The masters&#39; works speak to the world; mine speak to me.

 

[DC_DEEP]

Originally posted by DoubleMeatWhopper@Oct 27 2005, 01:05 PM
I write poetry, but it&#39;s for myself. As an English lit major, I stand in awe of the great poets of the English language. I could never hold a candle to Shakespeare, Keats, Byron, etc., so I don&#39;t feel that my attempts are worthy to put on display. The masters&#39; works speak to the world; mine speak to me.

[post=355961]Quoted post[/post]​

What a shame you don&#39;t share your poetry. I&#39;m not suggesting that you necessarily share it with me or with this board, but putting words into a meaningful whole, then hiding them, doesn&#39;t do them or you justice.

Most of my poetry comes not from a direct desire to make poetry, but from moods and emotions that make poetry come from me unbidden - such as the 9/11 tragedy or when my lover and I are apart due to travel. One of my best (I think) poems was written for my sister on the occasion of her 60th birthday. Incidentally, she is also an English teacher, and a beautiful, gentle lady. Anyway, you should share your work, even with just one person. It is in the sharing that it gains meaning.

 

[naughty]

I love it&#33;

Paul, you have gotten the folks talking about poetry. I think poetry is such a wonderful vehicle for acheiving catharsis. I can track the entire progress of an issue through the poetry I have written as a result of it. I for years has served the purpose of a blog for me.

Naughty

 

[absinthium]

Originally posted by DC_DEEP+Oct 27 2005, 02:06 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DC_DEEP &#064; Oct 27 2005, 02:06 PM)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteBegin-DoubleMeatWhopper@Oct 27 2005, 01:05 PM
I write poetry, but it&#39;s for myself. As an English lit major, I stand in awe of the great poets of the English language. I could never hold a candle to Shakespeare, Keats, Byron, etc., so I don&#39;t feel that my attempts are worthy to put on display. The masters&#39; works speak to the world; mine speak to me.

[post=355961]Quoted post[/post]​

What a shame you don&#39;t share your poetry. I&#39;m not suggesting that you necessarily share it with me or with this board, but putting words into a meaningful whole, then hiding them, doesn&#39;t do them or you justice.

[post=355978]Quoted post[/post]​

[/b][/quote]

Fuckabuncha that noise... Jacinto, I&#39;d love to read some of your poetry.

I&#39;ll show you mine if you show me yours? (That way it&#39;ll be less awkward. Isn&#39;t that what the molesters say?)

 

[naughty]

Julianna,

Why dont we have a thread where people share a poem that they have written? I would love to read everyone&#39;s work. I look forward to it. In fact, I think I will start it. I hope you will post one of your pieces. I love your mom&#39;s poetry.

Kim

 

[Brisler]

I have used the search function, and excuse me if a poetry thread already exists, but I couldn't find one.

There must be some poetry-freaks on this site. This thread is for sharing and talking about our favorite pieces of poetry, and not for sharing or writing our own pieces of poetry.

As you will learn soon enough, I'm mostly into tragic, humorous or downright depressive poetry, and more often than not a combination of the three.

I will get started by a perfect example of the tragic and humorous beautifully entangled. Lo and behold: A smile to remember by Charles Bukowski:



we had goldfish and they circled around and around
in the bowl on the table near the heavy drapes
covering the picture window and
my mother, always smiling, wanting us all
to be happy, told me, ‘be happy Henry!’
and she was right: it’s better to be happy if you
can
but my father continued to beat her and me several times a week while
raging inside his 6-foot-two frame because he couldn’t
understand what was attacking him from within.

my mother, poor fish,
wanting to be happy, beaten two or three times a
week, telling me to be happy: ‘Henry, smile!
why don’t you ever smile?’

and then she would smile, to show me how, and it was the
saddest smile I ever saw

one day the goldfish died, all five of them,
they floated on the water, on their sides, their
eyes still open,
and when my father got home he threw them to the cat
there on the kitchen floor and we watched as my mother
smiled


Isn't that neat?