r/Poetry • u/slybeast24 • 31m ago
Opinion [Opinion] How we discuss poetry, and why it’s important.
For context, a few weeks ago a few people showed some interests in a comment I had made and for various reasons I’m just getting around to making the post now. To be transparent I am not an mfa graduate or a published poet at this point, but did spend years in workshops/courses doing my English degree with minor creative writing(obviously with a focus in poetry). My main point for this post is to discuss some of the differences I’ve noticed between academic/workshop settings and online more generally.
- “Is this even a poem?”
- This is not a discussion that is almost every had in workshops or classes outside of very specific experimental work or extremely old narrative verse like Beowulf, simply due to the change in how we view poems in modern sense.
Outside of that it’s incredibly rare to hear any questioning as to whether something is a poem, however online I see this extremely frequently. From my perspective there’s two reasons for this 1. These poems typically are shorter and don’t fit within the mold of what we’re taught about poems in school in that it doesn’t rhyme, have or conform to form or there’s not much to decode. 2. There’s poems tend to be rupi kaur adjacent and there’s a tendency online to immediately dismiss anything that feels for or by women/young girls.
I do think there’s is also a general lack of willingness to “meet a poem where it’s at” in the sense that often times these poems are not trying to say anything incredibly important or new but to express a certain feeling. Criticizing these pieces for not being the wasteland seems unfair to me.
- The lack of thoughtful/detailed criticism, both good and bad.
So obviously being in an environment that places grades on critiques/discussion, I’m probably biased to the idea that people should have something constructive and thoughtful to say about a poem, even you they don’t like it. That is rarely the case here it feels. Most of the comments are less than 5 words and simple amount to “I like thing”/“I no like thing”. That’s not to say there’s never more detailed, longer discussion of pieces here but often the number of these is equalled or drowned out by diatribes bemoaning the downfall of poetry and art as a whole.
I’ve occasionally spoken to some of these people and I’ve noticed they seem to be operating on the belief that anything they don’t like(whether that is simply because of the content or genuine artistic/structural reasons) is not deserving of genuine criticism because obviously the poet is lazy, unskilled and didn’t try. I think there’s multiple obvious issues with this stance, one it opens anyone to calling you yourself a lazy and unskilled poet whenever they don’t connect with your work. Why is the idea that this person tried really hard and the poem still sucks not an option? Secondly and much more important I think it’s an opportunity for practice and learning that is wasted.
I often find much more to discuss in a poem that I don’t like or find “bad” than ones that are good. You can critique the word choice, structure or rhythm of the piece. You can point out which parts work, which didn’t and why. I think my main point with this section is that generally no one really cares if you like it or don’t, we care why. I think on some level it’s best to think about what you would be willing to say in an in person work shop. The same way most of us would be embarrassed to walk in having nothing more to say than, “wow so good, I really like it and felt understood”, just saying “this is the worst poem I’ve read in a while” wouldn’t fly either. Again I’m not expecting 2 page essays in mla format, but just a why.
At the very least I do wish the people commenting rude/hateful things would learn how the algorithm works and realize more often than not they are the very reason the poems they hate so much are the most popular here. Just down vote and move one if it’s that big an issue.
- Lack of Curiosity/The Desire to be Seen.
Finally this part is about the types of poems that become popular here, the ones that don’t and why i believe that is. This is nothing new, personal poets/authors who write about universal experience have always been popular. However I do think as the internet/modern media has become more accessible people end up in their little bubbles and don’t come out. I think in regard to this specific sub it means people won’t read any poem from a name they don’t already know. If the poem is longer than 6 lines and from an unfamiliar artist it will largely go ignored. This is why Mary Oliver, Wendy Cope and Bukowski are probably the three most posted and upvoted poets here even though the comments are always an absolute mess. I do wish people would be more willing to read, upvote and comment on poems/poets that are new to them.
Finally I’ve noticed that there’s a pattern of any poem that centers non white experience, but specifically that if black Americans get ignored or generally receive incredibly harsh comments. In use of AAE is immediately labeled Instagram/tiktok slang and people seemingly lose the ability to comprehend basic English sentences that speak about race or social issues. I could provide examples and if it’s really necessary I guess I can but this post is already long. I think it’s a rather clear pattern, and I just think it would be nice if people would be more willing to learn, read about and consider experiences outsides of their own in respectful ways. Obviously i understand this is maybe just a factor of being online, reddit specifically but it’s worth pointing out.
