Writing Meta: Why don't I get poetry?

[amanuensis1]

During insomnia night this week, I read a professional insititution's glossy creativity publication that had been given to me. The photos were pretty, the essays...not as horrible as they could have been, the poetry I thought was appalling. Schmaltz, doggerel, sentimental claptrap. Amateur pirouettes on a page, terribly proud of themselves for showing off their cut-apart structure and boring as spit. These students didn't even know how to write limericks; there was a two-page spread of them and not one of them had the correct scansion of a limerick. God. I read through the book thinking, what the hell did they reject?

Is it just me? I always admit that I don't have a poet's soul; I have no inclination to write poetry other than funny doggerel, and very little poetry resonates with me. Sometimes it does. The moments are rare, but wonderful. Is it just me, is most poetry dreadful cloying crap? Just because you're grieving or in pain, that doesn't mean you can create good art.

Comments

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Ooh, this turned out better than I expected! I always had this idea that my love of lyrics was integrally linked to its music, and you seem to have the same reaction. Lemmee see what else I can hunt down.

(and I really like The National for lyrics/tune)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Listened to it again (watched it this time)--I found I enjoyed repeating the refrain of "Showered and blue-blazered" in its context and thinking about what it was saying. Without the context of the music, would it have hit? Dunno!

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

As an aside, this song reminds me of Carson in his NYC years.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

HA! Perfect. I hear it now too.