I never know what to say in these things … I am a 25 year old Houston born poet. I take poetry very seriously, I think it is important and undervalued in our society. I believe poetry teaches us how to look through another’s eyes where we can see more than just the events unfolding, but also the raw emotions.I enjoy both going to and participating in poetry readings. Poetry, for me, starts on the page, but when it is spoken it truly lives.
I have been writing as long as I can remember, but more since seriously since I was 14, when I joined my first writing group. I began reading in public about the same time. I took a number of years off where I didn’t write as frequently, during which time I married, divorce, remarried and had two very special little boys. I have begun writing again, and have begun to think of sending out some items for publication. The problem is I am addicted to editing. So I never feel anything is finished enough to actually submit anywhere. I try to be kind, but most importantly honest in all that I do. I expect the same in return.
In general, my preferred style for poetry is free verse, although I do occasionally lapse into other forms.
I think it is the poet’s job to be accessible in their writing. What good are you if it sounds wonderful but your readers have no freaking idea what you are talking about. My goal is to be understood so that others can relate their own life to my experiences and poetry, so please tell me if you don’t get it.
Everyone reviews in a different way. Let me tell you how I do it so I don’t offend anyone else.
First off I will rarely give a perfect score, nothing is perfect. If you are posting it for feedback (hopefully) you are looking for real peer to peer feedback, for suggestions to strengthen not only the piece in question but your writing in general. Maybe you are just putting out feelers to see if it’s ready for being submitted elsewhere for publication, that’s fine too. But either way you are looking for real feedback. I will give you that. What I will not do is bash anyone. I would rather not review or comment if I can’t be of some help or say something nice. On the other hand … I refuse to sing false praise. I am not here to hear how great I am, that’s what your friends and family are for. I am looking for honest feedback, so if I say I like it, I really mean it. If you are only looking for someone to tell you how great you are, please delete my review, I don’t do that.
I know I may sound pretentious saying all that, but I don’t claim to be great or even good. Please remember that even well known published writers seek peer feedback, and sometimes its not all praise. No one is too good to improve.
I just do what I do, I like doing what I do, I like suggestions, feedback, and honesty. That’s all I ask for.
When I review poetry I try to look at a number of factors such as…
Is it understandable, at least by the third reading?
Does it keep me interested and most importantly caring about what’s going on?
How does it look visually on the page?
How does it sound when read aloud?
Do the metaphors make sense, can I visualize the images?
Poetic devises … are they used to enhance or do they make the poem stumble?
Technical … are places that could be improved by omitting there unnecessary word such: and, it, the, I, she, he her my etc ?
Do line breaks make sense?
Is there places that need grammatical correction or punctuation?
Are the words used, used correctly and/or spelled properly?
I try to be objective, even if I don’t agree with the view point. It’s about the poem, not the opinion.
Last thought – While poetry is an ever changing art form … we have to remember we are writing for an audience. I know a lot of poets who don’t believe in editing their poems at all, and think that being elusive makes it more poetic, somehow allowing the audience make it mean what ever they want it to. That can work sometimes, but the problem you run into is confusion, and a lack of caring. I use to be that way, but being involved in other poetry groups, and doing public readings has made me realize there is always room for improvement, and if your audience doesn’t get it the first time, most won’t bother to stick around for a second chance.
(On a side note – I am dyslexic. Occasionally I will omit words or flip the order of words. I try to proof read carefully, but the thing is I actually see them there even if they are not, I know that sounds weird. So please forgive me if I do this in a review, it not normally a problem, but happens sometimes when I am tired or stressed. Feel free to point it out if you notice it in a poem too.)
