sometimes i just don't get it.

[billy]

Sometimes I see a poem on here or elsewhere, and it doesn't do a thing for me. Some of the time I can't figure out what it means? what should we do in circumstances like this?

[Aish]

Happens to me ALL the time Billy.
Sometimes I am able to walk away and comment when I return, but not always. I personally don't like to see any poem without at least one reply, however, when this happens, I can't force myself to comment. I don't really have a suggestion since I am part of the problem.

[billy]

is it better to walk away or is it better to say "i don't get it at all" i do realize that often it's my fault for not having the knowledge to understand, but even then i can often get the gist of the thing or the gist of something. some poems though leave me more than puzzled.

[Aish]

Articulating your confuzzlement is acceptable. It's better than getting 3 or 4 lines deep in, realizing you don't give a fuck, and logging out

[abu nuwas]

''realizing you don't give a fuck, and logging out''

Wot? You too?

It should be enjoyable, in the broadest sense. It is OK for people to write what is, in truth, of meaning to them only. Or to choose to write in an arcane or oblique style. When we write, we must ask ourselves how important it is, that the reader understand. I am in awe of some of the critics on here; and they demonstrate that the simple clarity which appeals to me, is not the only path. But for the rubbish critics, like me, it is better to walk away than to repeat endlessly that someone's chef d'oeuvre seems like so much mumbo jumbo.

[Leanne]

I don't mind not understanding a poem entirely, so long as I can appreciate the technique, aesthetics, or some other aspect -- it's when it's obscure AND poorly written, or deliberately obscure to try and disguise the fact that it's poorly written, that I get to the "don't give a fuck/ log out" stage.

[Wildcard]

I struggle both with understanding other's work and with writing shit that anyone can understand so this is a double-edged thread for me.

[billy]

i think i just write shit crits then log out

noooo, i try and be honest and i'm okay if i get something wrong, for me it's all part of learning how to give feedback. often it's the shit poems that need the crit or feedback, how will they be improved (remembering we're in a workshop)

[Todd]

When a poem doesn't do a thing for me, not a single thing...I might pass on it. If I can figure out why I'm ambivalent to it than I'll try to write a critique on that. If I feel that it is probably well done but just doesn't do anything for me...again I'll pass.

When I can't figure out what a poem means I'll read it a few times slowly and then make an attempt usually line-by-line sometimes five to ten lines in something comes to me. If it does: great. If it doesn't: I don't worry about it and press on and take the risk of being wrong. Which isn't that bad of a risk. Worst case the poet see that at least for me the poem lacked clarity. The thing is there still has to be something there that interests me it can't just be a mental puzzle that I'm trying to solve.

[billy]

i'm okay with getting it wrong, (it's a hobby of mine ) and i do admit to disliking some of the poetry that gets posted.
my problem is I have the urge to reply to every poem. when i can't see what it's about or i can't understand any of it all i can say is, i don't understand it. the odds are, if i don't understand it i have no ideas as to how to edit it (apart from a re write) so constructive feedback is out of the question. i
m okay with poetry i dislike because there's usually a reason.

[abu nuwas]

Todd

'It can't be just a mental puzzle to solve'.

Exactly. Nothing wrong with puzzles -sudoku, chess 'White move a win in three', cross-words-- there is something quite stimulating in trying to crack them, like Linear B. But if one senses that that is it, no. You seem to have an uncanny knack for teasing out all kinds of points which I miss -- you should hhhhave been at Bletchley Park....

[billy]

as a gardener

good point guys. if we just write in order to make the understanding of it hard we're being very twattish while many poets are twattish, i'm sure that isn't the main aim of throwing a poem out there.

i'm okay with an enigma poem that has a secret message inside it but the poem itself still has to stand up as a decipherable poem.

[Todd]

If the poem gives me that moment where I solve it and then it's just a big wave of awesomeness I'm okay with working through it. When it's cryptic for the sole sake of being cryptic...screw that. Abu if Nazis wrote crappy emo seizure-inducing free verse maybe I could've helped, but Billy's probably right...I probably should bring doughnuts and a rake to orientation.

[billy]

how truthful can we be, can we say. sorry but that's an utter load of gibberish, i prefer to say, i don't understand it.

[Todd]

I think you can say that and use the emoticon. Definitely