Poetry >

I hate poetry. I hate it with such a passion that I lose words. I grew up on words. I grew up on philosophy. Poetry is like the pathetic kid brother of philosophy.

2005-08-03 b ∞

Just how in the heck do people allow themselves to be fleeced by such a crappy art form? It’s like certain artwork in museums. Someone swallowed paint, threw up on canvas, and it’s behind glass? Poetry is the underside of the shoe of real writing. While it might be able to inspire, it can only peripherally communicate. I find it to be a wholly restrictive method for communication and I just cannot see it as an art form.

If anyone thinks poetry is inspiring, go read political speeches. Please, compare poetry with a good speech any day. A good speech should stun. A great speech should make ones eyes float.

Ok, I’m done ranting now.

2005-08-03 a ∞

I want to see complete sentences. I want to see expression. Unless poetry makes an attempt at expressing something it is completely worthless. Real writing approaches the expression of the ineffable. Poetry is an amusement at best.

I’d rather read a heartfelt diary entry than a fucking poem. I’d rather read something which exudes Naturalness and expression than the drunk-stumbling and stuttering garbage that is poetry.

A poetry is not going to change the fucking world. An essay is. A speech is.

A poetry might amuse a passer-by, where real writing can make them cry.

Rhyming or timing are fanciful things, but not as important as reaching and teaching.

I’d rather read a joke than a poem.

Poetry is like bad art that I just don’t “get”. It makes me stare off into space wondering if the fault is with me. No, poetry, it is you. You suck, and I maintain my sensibilities in the face of the bad art that is you.

“Oh my god, you can vomit words onto a page! Please take all my money!!” If I were starving I would not pay for poetry. It is at best like a bouquet of plastic flowers. A bad fifty-cent romance novel is a higher artform.

Then there is Shakespeare. I hear there is poetry there. I hear there is poetry exuding from every corner of every page.. from each paragraph and every bit of punctuation. That’s great. That’s a really difficult task. When I read such works, though, I still read writing and I cannot and will not appreciate the artistry in it.

The written word is valuable for what it communicates. Even if the the best poetry is at the very core of a work.. my blinders will protect me from it.