ART and poetry should not invite ridicule.
Should not cause frustration, irritation, and loss of hope among those who seek beauty and perfection in the world.
“Oh, sheeez! That was it? That was poetry? You call that crap poetry?”
Good poetry is not a waste of time. Because it rewards the readers.
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Good poetry is not a punishment.
It’s not something that readers should endure.
It’s something that gives joy.
Something that they would want to last forever.
And the only way to do that is by not letting your poem go on forever. (Keep it under 21 lines!)
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Good poetry is like a striptease.
Like a burlesque show. Soft porn.
Show something.
Reveal some, but not everything.
Let them want it.
But don’t give it to them!
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You want to be published?
Unless you are T.S. Eliot or Walt Whitman or Homer (who are dead), keep it under 21 lines.
Or haven’t you checked the poetry sections of newspapers, magazines, and websites where you want to submit to?
They want poems. Not novels!
They only have 4 sq. inch for your stuff on the paper.
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Good poems are brief and comprehensive. Like a flash of genius.
Concise, precise, and complete.
Concise because they do not waste words.
They use precise words—accurate, necessary, essential, irreplaceable words.
If the words can be substituted, and your poem still means the same after substitution, maybe, just maybe, your poem needs more work. Until it becomes most precise.
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If your poem needs an explanation after your final punctuation, it is neither concise nor complete.
Concise means short. But also short, with complete meaning.
Concise means giving a lot of information clearly, and in a few words.
Short, and to the point.
Short and sweet, not sugary. (Or that word—flowery!)
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By complete I mean complete thought.
Short and concise does not mean incomplete.
Shouldn’t sound like the poet ran out of breath, or ideas.
If you don’t get to say the ending of your Oscar speech, guess, who looks like an idiot who just did a lot of blabber and didn’t make a point?
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Saying “I love you” is wonderful.
And there are a lot of great poems that do that.
But…
…it has been done before!
If you can’t outdo the past, don’t even try.
You will never be as good as your predecessors.
You will just look amateurish.
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But wouldn’t it be more interesting if you add the Why?
Or the How?
The When? The Where?
The Despite of, the Because to these “I love you” sentiments?
I think you can be original with these additions.
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“I love you with my kidneys and my spleen” is a pretty good line, don’t you think?
But that’s not really a complete poem, is it?
Maybe it is. Maybe it’s not.
Your call.
I just feel that it is incomplete.
Good line, but incomplete poem.
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“Do I love you in the bleeding sunset, in that tortuous moment when you nibble on my lower lip one last time? Oh, so much pleasure-pain, so much orgasm, so much!”
Concise?
31 words, and biting. A little too much information in a few words, don’t you think?
Precise?
Lower lip, bleeding sunset, nibble (instead of bite). Pretty specific to me!
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Complete? Hello, hello?
Did you see the word ‘orgasm’ there?
If orgasm cannot complete you, I don’t know what will. Haha.
Seriously, I think this is a complete poem.
It lacks the magnificence of a sonnet or a 12-liner, but still, a complete poem.
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My preference has always been the short and simple poems.
My inspirations are the haiku of the Japanese.
My models are the courtly women poets of the Heian period.
I confess I have not read “The Waste Land”.
I have not touched “Leaves of Grass”.
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I think I read “The Song of Hiawatha” some time ago.
I don’t remember it much because I hated it, or how long it was.
I think Poe’s “Annabel Lee” is okay.
I think “Annabel Lee” is long enough for me.
In longer poems, I look for the pretty sounds of the words.
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But pretty sounds can only carry me up to a certain point.
If I don’t understand it, I’m most likely to drop it.
If I don’t get an arousal, a mental erection, I just drop long poems.
I mean, what’s the point?
It’s not like they are the only poems in the world!
A lot of great short poems beg to be read! (To be continued) (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
