… the poems you think are your best and the poems other people think are your best?
… the poems you like the most and the poems you think are your best?
I find these two questions pretty interesting, mainly because for me, there doesn’t seem to be a relationship. The poems I’ve written that I like aren’t generally the ones I think are pretty good. And if I post a poem here that I think is one of my best, chances are I won’t get a comment on it at all.
Of course, since I’m always right, it just means you all are cretins! Hurumphf.
I don’t know what it all means. Perhaps simply that I have no taste and no sense of quality. I’d prefer to think it’s more like an inability to hear your own voice. (Well, I’d really really prefer to think I’m the Wile E Coyote of the poetry world, but I have my doubts. I do have business cards, though.)
The poems other people think are my best get published first.
My darlings tend to be ignored but that’s okay — I love them anyway.
Great questions!
My serious pieces get ignored most of the time. I’m praised most for my comedy and light verse.
I suppose I should infer that I’m at my best when I’m not taking myself too seriously.
It’s a hard thing to hear.
One of the (many) reasons why I gave up submitting my poems to magazines was that when I did get an acceptance, the choice would be for the poem I’d included as filler rather than for the poem I wanted to see published.
Truth is I don’t read my poems the way other people read them. I know what my poems are supposed to be saying whereas the casual browser doesn’t have such luxury. The poems I think are my best are the ones where I’ve worked in 2 or 3 layers of meaning/interpretation – which work well for me, but which rarely work for the reader because they only spend enough time with the poem to get the surface meaning (if that).
One of my most important poems (for me, anyway) has never been commented on in any detail, despite being posted to various fora and newsgroups. I assume it’s because people are nervous of the content rather than because it’s poorly written or just not likeable.
I enjoyed “Revelations” on erato. I thought it was strange so many commenters are already trying to rank the selected poems. But it’s nice to see poems being selected on their own merits, rather than on the hierarchical importance of the author.
Today’s verification: moodz.
Ivy, I guess that’s the most obvious difference, eh? 🙂
Carl, I find that when people are ignoring serious pieces for light verse, it can be a sign that they just aren’t grasping the tough stuff. Light verse is almost always “easier” to read, though I tend not to like it.
Rik, I had a poem that I wrote that I loved. Loved! I posted it on aapc. Not a single reply. Posted somewhere else. Not a single reply. Posted here. Not a word. Makes a person feel a little self-conscious, I’ll admit.
You know, this got me thinking this morning. I for one, would love to read these poems. The poems the poets love. The poems layered with meaning, yet misunderstood. The poems that get bypassed because they live beyond the 7-sec sound-bite for comprehensibility.
I think it would be great to find a place, designed to improve the readership of poetry. Whether a journal or blog, a place where the poem is posted, and where the poet gives some insight as to what they were thinking, what they hope the reader will get from a piece.
I know it’s taboo for poets to explain their poems, but I’m sure that many times the words, the layers, and the meaning are there – I just don’t get it – I for one would love the help.
Besides, reading the favorites works of a poet would make me feel like I understood them a bit more, I rather like that idea.
Hey, Lae.
Well, I do tend to put poems up here that I like for one reason or another. You’re right that I very rarely comment on them. I feel very awkward about starting, since I have that “Don’t explain your poem!” stamped on the inside of my eyelids!
The poem of mine that I mentioned was Autochrome, which I love for reasons that probably have nothing to do with quality. I don’t think it has layers of meaning, though. I don’t think I tend to write things with layers of meaning. Rik is a show-off!
Am Not!
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