Where are all the poets at?

Lol, a friend of mine calls himself a poet because he writes little rhymes on some dating sites to try to draw in the women. I've tried to explain to him that rhymes aren't necessarily poetry, and that there's also a thing called poetic language, and that true poetry condenses ideas down and intensifies the imagery and the underlying meaning, but he refuses to hear it.

 

Let me guess: dirty limericks? Even if not, I’m sure “poetry” like his turns the women off just as much.

 

Wait... it's not normal to have difficulty to distinguish syllables?

One primary reason I don't write poetry is because of that. I have to use a software tool to distinguish the syllables for me, which isn't fun, so I don't do it.

 

More like love poems or something, and he recites them to me as if he's extremly proud of them. I told him it's pretty weird, and I don't want him reciting love poetry to me. I think if I embarrass him enough he'll stop. But he thinks he's some kind of extremly gifted poet (and everythong else for that matter). The guy has issues. And yeah, when he tells me one I cringe, not just because he's reading me love poems, but because they're just really bad and embarrassing. I would never show anybody anything I wrote that was so cringe.

 

I have to count syllables with my hands as I read to determine how many there are. It's because the mind can't reaqd and count at the same time, and by the end of a line I have no idea how many syllables there were unless I tally them up on my fingers as I go. I think that's pretty common. Not sure if what you're talking about is worse or not?

 

Well, I can't distinguish them at all by myself. I can't even comprehend how you do that, lol. But I always thought that I simply didn't have the skill or experience to do it. I've tried making a "robot voice" but it doesn't work. Nothing works except using one of those sites that count them for you.

Hmmm... interesting info.

 

Are there any other poets here who use rhyme, meter, and all the tools of the traditional poet, or am I the only one?

Try as I might, I can’t make free verse any good, but the constraints of rhyme and meter force me to get more creative with word choice. That may be one reason why, as I and some others concluded in another thread, I’m a better poet than story writer.

 

A lot of the poetry in the Workshop uses rhyme and meter and the devices of poetic language.

 

This poet be at here!

Oof! An old acquaintance (not friend) of mine once enthusiastically shared the "erotic poem" he had written for his girlfriend with me. It was, uh, technically a poem; it had rhymes and meters (several of them!), and it displayed a dazzling command of bathroom stall vocabulary. It was certainly something. Sadly, I never heard if she was impressed with the effort.

I don't use them all the time, but they're definitely part of my toolkit. My poetry is probably about half formal and half free, and even the free verse often includes some internal rhymes, alliteration, and the like. I've been favoring free verse lately, though; I haven't written anything metrical in a while. My only publications have been a sonnet and a limerick, though, so maybe I should get back to it.

I do hope your coworkers appreciated this bit of genius.

 

Where have all the poets gone, long time passing?
Where have all the poets gone, long time ago?
Where have all the poets gone?
Their pens have dried up, every one
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?

adapted from Pete Seeger's Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

 

When will they ever earn? - might be closer to the bone.

Where have all the poets gone? Put off by the rigid insistence of consistent meter and syllable count every one...

Personally, I just go with natural cadence.

 

That rigid insistence has been gone for a very long time now. Probably well before you were born. Looking at literary journals, or the very rare poets who actually sell books in any serious quantity, formal verse is pretty rare. If anything, the rigid insistence one most often encounters is this:

Myself, I generally write in free verse but the idea that poetry should mimic "natural cadence" is corrosive to language and the imagination.

 

Hey, I’ve earned at least enough to buy one of those fancy coffee-flavored dessert beverages from Starbucks from my poetry — and not just a tall, but a venti!

 

Hello LPDM - "formal verse is pretty rare." and that informal verse is non-existent actually re-enforces my point. I wasn't born yesterday...

Who said anything about 'mimicking' ?

 

This was rather mimicking.

If I include poetry in my writing, it would also have to be mimicking.

 

Yes, it was, which is why I included the attribution. However, I'm absolutely capable of scribing my own, unique, work when the mood takes me. Thank you for your comment.

 

Yeah, I like the earn versus learn comment. The only time I "earned" anything from my poetry was a contest many years ago in which first prize was $2 -- nowhere near enough for a coffee at Starbucks. And my poem was one of those rare occasions when I attempted formal versus free verse...
Silent Seal
This kiss my lips to yours—
a wordless "I love you."
Whispered up a bit more close
than I usually do.

Spoken not from mouth to ear,
this silent touch a seal,
but lips to lips confessed to you,
an oath that you can feel.

May it match the ones you know
in your pleasant dreams.
And may you plumb the deepest depths
of what it simply means.

On open heart and just closed eyes,
now let this kiss write true.
Well cross my T's and dot my I's,
I'm still in love with you!

 

Where have all the poets gone
long time wa-ai-ting,
Where have all the poets gone
no-thing to crit
Where have ALL THE POETS gone
Can't get my two-for-one
They've dis-appeared every one
loooong-long ago

 

I am disappointed that we don’t have more poets. I’ve decided that I’m a poet who writes short prose fiction when he can’t help himself, but most people here, it seems, are novelists who dabble in poetry here and there, if they write poetry at all. That’s why I haven’t posted much lately—not much common ground.

I’ve looked for poetry forums, but they’re all about workshopping (which I don’t feel is beneficial at my level).

 

I believe there are a lot more poets here who are serious about the craft, and like yourself, they are not looking for a place to workshop. What exactly are you looking for, and maybe create your own niche and build from there to attract more like-minded members and ultimately- participation. Is there a Poetry Discussion forum here ... I've never checked.

 

When I started a poetry thread it got a lot of views, and several people expressed interest in taking part. But I switched from hosting that thread to instead studying it on my own blog. But I think, as you said @PiP, if somebody is willing to create and host a thread it can take off. It just needs somebody dedicated who's willing to keep it going, the way @Louanne Learning does for the Science thread and the Art thread for instance.

 

I've been involved in a dozen or more face-to-face poetry groups over the years and enjoy them much more than web-based poetry forums. Why? Because most web-based forums are into critiquing the poems without first discussing how the poem affected our thoughts and feelings. First the forest, then the trees to give a poet context for the feedback. My opinion is that feedback should follow the sequence... "What does this poem mean?" >> "What did this poem make you feel?" >> "What can I do to improve its impact on my readers?"


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