Today was horrible i had to wake up and exist omg

YOU GUYSSSSS

I am doing a poetry workshop...
4 times a week with a dutch teacher...

what we usually do is we get a challenge and we all have to do it, and then we give each other critical comments, or not so critical

bla bla bla... what we liked what we didn't like
and you know what I realized??

HOW IS IT SO EASY TO JUST COMMENT ON THINGS HERE, AND STATE THIS AND THAT AND JUST BREAK DOWN THE POEM FOR SOMEBODY AND TELL THEM WHAT WE LOVED, LIKED, AND DIDN'T LIKE

but its just sooooooooooooooooooo bloody hard to do it in person???

sometimes I am in class and i find something so incredibly awful and I ask myself "wow, but how do i say that it was awful"... lmao

...but I'm also a genuine believer that poetry is never wrong like u know, how do you critize
someone elses emotions?

cause that's what we do you know, critize the way someone else chooses to describe how they feel

...how come we poets are so damn shameless?
ever thought about that? ...

This is why Ive always been a believer of not commenting on poetry if I didnt like it. Because you cant critique someones emotions, you cant tell someone how to feel, how to word their feelings. Poetry is an expression of individuality and personal emotions, Ive always felt it wrong to point out things and say 'maybe if you worded it like this, try doing this'. No, the authors emotions are on the page as they feel them.

Now formed poetry is different. Pointing out grammatical errors or syllable counts that are off truly needs brought to the authors attention if they messed up somewhere in their write because the form would be incorrect.

Other than that, I say leave peoples poetry the way it is. If its not your style, doesnt suit your fancy, just dont comment. haha

Hey Yaki! Melanie feels lonely without you...

Like Chelsey, I generally don't comment on poems I don't like. It feels mean. However, I don't think that members should be afraid of receiving criticism if they are leaving themselves bare on a public website - it comes with the territory. If you don't want feedback, leave a note on the poem.

However, if I am specifically asked to critique a poem, I think it's very important to be honest. If a poet has asked me to give a piece of my mind, I want to make sure I respect them being true to myself and give them what they have asked for, in the understanding that it is just my opinion.

Any poet will need to face critique, harsh critique, if they want to pursue poetry seriously. But, yeah, I would find it much more difficult to be critical in person. Poets are such sensitive things.

Oh melanie, I remember

<3 <3 <3