Greg Perry of g r a p e z was the one who inspired me to tackle the daily review on WEE. He went on hiatus for a while, but is back swinging. Please check it out.
Greg Perry of g r a p e z was the one who inspired me to tackle the daily review on WEE. He went on hiatus for a while, but is back swinging. Please check it out.
I pushed on to both of these sites and read more than a dozen of the comments on poems. How about that, not one positive comment. I wonder why they bothered. Do they ever uncover work they like? Probably.
But I didn’t see any of those and after the 15th pan, I booked. “Here, look at these poems I didn’t care for.”
Sure that’s how I want to spend my recreation time. Doesn’t everyone?
-blue
Beau Blue, This actually strikes to the heart of something I’ve been very conscious of. How to criticize something in an honorable way. But before I go there, let me say this. First, I know for a fact I’ve been positive on some of these poems, so I’m not sure what kind of positive reaction you expect. Second, I’ve chosen to look at daily sites that are somewhat the authority in their genres. I’m doing all of this for personal reasons, one of which is to appraise what passes for the best daily poetry on the internet, not merely for criticism’s sake but to give me a chance to think about that poetry of today. And second, and back to your point, to practice criticism in an impeccable but straightforward way. I’ll tell you it’s difficult sometimes, and sometimes I know I fall over the line. But the effort is sometimes its own reward. And since I don’t consider poetry merely my recreation, I do like to spend my time in that effort. What everyone else wants to do is their own decision. (But Julie, thanks for the word-up.)
Sorry you don’t like what we’re trying to do. You are welcome to write more positive reviews, and I’d be happy to link to them. Or if you’d like to send me positive reviews, I’d be happy to post them on WEE.
I’m not tryin’ to pick a fight. If I was criticizing in a dishonorable way, please accept my apology, it was not meant in that manner. My only suggestion would be to balance out more. If I missed the positive reviews I apologize.
Julie, when I find a poem I like enough to praise, I usually try to talk the author into recording it so I can animate it and have it appear in my cafe. Most times I fail. It’s amazing how many poems are written by those who won’t read ’em aloud.
Again, I apologize for my flippant tone.
-blue
Your tone is fine with me.
Because I’m dealing with poems as they are presented rather than searching them out on my own, there are times when I don’t like anything, and times when I like it all. In order to get balance, I’d either have to deliberately skip days, or deliberately tweak reviews. I do skip days when I tired or just don’t feel like reading poetry, but I try not to skip just because I don’t want to look good.
I guess I’m saying that I’m trying to be as honest in my reactions as I can. Verse Daily puts up a poem, I read it, and I write something. Poetry Daily puts up a poem, I read it, and I write something. No Tell Motel puts up a poem, I read it, and I write something. If I read the poem on one of these sites, or if someone suggests a poem to me and I read it, I write something. I’m trying to “editorialize” the choice of poems as little as I can, to avoid as much bias as I can. And when I know about my biases, I try to mention them, too.
It’s honestly harder than I ever expected. There are times when I would prefer not to share my reaction to a poem because I’m sure I look like an idiot. But looking like an idiot is the price I’m paying.
blue,
In no way was I suggesting you were critting in a dishonorable way. Sorry if it came out that way. I was only referring to my own intent in this project of mine. And Julie’s explanation of the poetry sites: ditto. Although tonight I’m trying a new site I picked up over at another blog called coldfront. A change of weather so to speak.