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]

Okay, here's sample #2. This one caught my attention because I'd saved the lyrics long ago and recently reread them, only to wonder what was so compelling about them. Then I listened to the song...

Climbing as we fall
We dare to hold on to our fate
And steal away our destiny
To catch ourselves
With quiet grace.

Storey to storey
Building to building
Street to street
We pass each other on the stairs.

Here's the song, but I could only find it live...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKezAA-9Xsg

I'll give you a chance to think about it, then I'll give you my take....

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Okay, I like the first stanza all on its own. The second one loses me.

Clicking on the song...omigod, INXS. I still pronounce this band's name "inks." And I've never heard a song of theirs I liked. Let's see. Argh, I really don't like the singer's voice, never have, and the way he makes all the lyrics unintelligible. This one runs up against those difficulties preventing me from bonding with it at all. So, it's not a failed experiment, but it's a different outcome in the experiment!

*cannot resist using this icon*

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

Hahaha! I love that icon!

Well, Michael aside, this is what makes me listen to the lyrics more closely:

The beat, although not very fast (clocks in at about 110 beats per minute), is still fairly compelling. I feel as if it's urging me forward.

The repetition of the stanza "Listened to by walls.." which is also repeated in the melody used for "Climbing as we fall..." reinforces those lyrics. There's also a great chord progression right there to catch my interest.

Finally, I really like the juxtaposition of the words "quiet grace." and "To catch ourselves with quiet grace" makes the whole thing both active and visual.

Let's go to example 3....

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

"Quiet grace" was the phrase that affected and connected with me too!