Do you sometimes despair that the "poets" of Y!A will ever post poems again?

Question

I know it's an election year, but the mud slinging there is amazing! Could we ever hope to find real poetry and constructive criticism, instead of verbal assault or unfounded praise, with nothing in between? I am sure that poets who answer this question will show themselves to be classy and above board. Are my expectations unrealistic? Let's find out...

Answer 1

Your having asked the question encourages me. I'll try again, but to answer your question, Y!A is not an optimal poetry forum. The problem is that it is too impersonal: we do not know each other. In the older Yahoo Groups, we knew each other. That established relation, and relation established trust, and we could talk to each other better. Having said all this, here's my crazy poem - posted as an answer. To be honest with you, I literally couldn't stand it any more and gave up posting poems as questions. I actually don't like this poem, myself, anymore. I need to rewrite it, but until I get that inspiration ...

and you think you know what politics is

and you think politics is all about voter registration and issues -

abortion, taxes, global warming, and medicare

you think politics is all those candidates running for office

and you think you know what politics is

let me tell you what politics is

politics is a dollar in my pocket and a rock in my head

politics is a glass eye, shell shock, and schizophrenia

an impenetrable wall that eludes your touch

politics is a big advertisement for coca-cola classic

and the drum beat of the daily news

and just as history is the chronology of war

politics is the seismic movement of power

you feel it and they tell you everything about it that is

of no possible value

politics is two guys slam drunk in some local dive

not knowing what society they live in or who they're talking to

because politics is not what you see on the six o'clock news

politics is all the reasons it got all fouled up in the first place

politics is why they misappropriated your money

politics is all of t. s. eliot's "arguments of insidious intent"

where words are cast about like frisbees in the air

words like liberty equality freedom justice patriotism

the meanings bleached out by the sun

and contorted by misunderstanding and abuse

illiterate we are in our native tongues

politics is the mish and the mash of compromise

it' s the give and take of his opinion and hers

politics is the confluence of the "is"

with the "what ought to be"

real-politick is the reality of life as opposed to the dream

it is life's approximations instead of the ideal

and there come a man and woman of the caves and jungles

displaced just a little

to occupy the high rise office structures and condominiums

they have shed the mask of thickened hide and heavy fur

and don the satin sheen of this new hairless breed

clinking cocktails

sliding loosely into believing in ideologies

politics is the enaction of survival of the fittest

politics is the play of those best equipped for this world

with all the tools endowed by God

and played-out without any knowledge of His existence

politics is getting along with life

while watching those less fortunate fall by the wayside

and you watch and pray

to save your guilty soul

and spare yourself the others' fate

politics is not a two party game

structured opposition democracy and government in the making

politics is the color of our lives

politics is what we settle for

politics is the yin and the yang of our work and our play

of life and its introspection

politics is a stale joke in a smoke-filled room

oh! i lost my wallet on the other street corner!

but the light is so much better over here

politics is a lighthouse beacon shining far out

into the fog-shrouded night

and politics is a baby-blue tinted disposable contact lens

on the eye of a potato

Answer 2

I have been a member of A!Y since February this year, and the poetry section some-what later.

I have gained a tremendous amount from the encouragement of others on this site.  The constructive criticism I have received has helped me technically and has made me more confident.  The critiques I receive are gentle and yes, perhaps not as harsh as you will find on other sites...but, it suits my tender sensibilities.

I often surf the poetry section to find new, inexperienced poets and try to encourage them in the way I was encouraged.  I certainly have learned that what is considered constructive criticism can be an arrow in the heart of the fledgling poets. Moderation in all things.

As to mud-slinging - not guilty, your Honour.

ps - I like the poetry I read on A!Y and I am well-versed (no pun intended) in the poetry of the masters....what is 'real' poetry?

pps - As a top contributor to the poetry section, why have I never seen you before? Ah, now I know....just checked you out ....an honest man, indeed.

Answer 3

Alright! No more mud slinging!

I am Reenie and I approve this message.

Just up letting the dog out...night-night.

Answer 4

There are not enough dreamers left in the world...

Answer 5

"Honesty is the best policy."

Answer 6

No, no, and yes.

Answer 7

Class is so hard to find these days...

Answer 8

C'est la vie

This is a place dominated by teenagers whose typical comments are driven by collecting 2 points... where the Jonas Brothers, the Twilight Series, and Miley Cyrus headline the questions... and you talk of despair over the "poets"... give me some names... Robert Frost? T.S. Elliot? who?... only two people I've been missing is Todd and Tori.... We have a saying in the South...  if you ain't happy where you are, Delta is ready when you are... or you can just block and ignor what you don't like.

I also agee with Grannyjill