What's it all about?

[billy]

while i enjoy writing poetry. i'm not of that breed who are able to leap out of the box and just create. i'm still and always will be a plodder. but thats okay. i enjoy it.

[Leanne]

Cows are plodders, but look what grows out of their excrement... noone can predict where the next defining poem of a nation or generation will come from and noone has a clue what it will look like either, so never discount the products of the plodder.

[rayheinrich]

Leanne spake thus: "At the end of the day, it's poetry if the writer
and at least one other person agree that it's poetry -- now, whether
it's good or bad poetry is an entirely different question!"

While I agree with the part that came after the first part, I must
respectfully disagree with the part that came before it. IMHO it
takes only one reader to verify the poemness of a particular collection
of words and that, invariably, is the one who first writes them.
(Except in certain poetry forums where the authors blindly drivel
them out leaving it for the next pathetic soul to do the inpoeming.)


Leanne spake alsoly: Cows are plodders, but look what grows out of their excrement...

Psilocybin mushrooms! She hath seen god(s)!

P.S. And since poems are words:

__Word Meat__
                    - Jeffrey Sullivan

the shape of the word
lets us forget
what is inside
but inside the word
its shape dissolves

eating the meat of words
letting their sweet blood
flow from our mouths
our teeth
deep inside the words
our shape
becomes the shape of words

...

[billy]

i am refreshed that we have virtually no cutter poetry in here.

[Aish]

i am refreshed that we have virtually no cutter poetry in here.

You have said a mouthful. After running DS for 8 years I have encountered enough cutter poetry I almost wanted to start cutting myself.

*pukes*

[popeye]

i am refreshed that we have virtually no cutter poetry in here.

You have said a mouthful. After running DS for 8 years I have encountered enough cutter poetry I almost wanted to start cutting myself.

*pukes*

Hello billy and Aish, bit new to all this, what is cutter poetry?

[Aish]

Hi, Jiminy!

Cutter poetry is poetry written about cutting on oneself. Now, I do realize OCD is a legitimate problem requiring intercession. However, there has been a veritable glut of poorly written, cliche laden, sappy (and downright BAD) carbon copy cut-and-paste type drivel on most online poetry sites. Sadly, it is not all written by angsty adolescents. I know this is probably coming off as elitist and rude, but it seriously all reads about the same. These are not kids with OCD - cutting has become a popular activity among teens, and so has bad poetry.

[popeye]

Much obliged Aish, cheers.

[billy]

when i say cutter poetry it's just that. poetry with usually teenage angst and dripping blood etc.
as Aish mentioned good poetry can be written about anything, cutter poetry is seldom good poetry.

[rayheinrich]

.
jiminy askes: "what is cutter poetry?"

In the spirit of "Show, don't tell", jiminy,
I bestow upon you this an awe-inspiring example:


__Some Call It Crazy__
                              - Cassandra Johnson
Some call it crazy
Some say it’s sick
But I think it’s freedom
The pain is fierce but quick
Some say that it’s a sin
Just a little to risqué
But it helps release the pain
That I go through every day
The blade is sharp and cold
As it runs across my skin
Leaving me to ponder
And decide how deep I cut in
The icy chill running down my spine
Makes me feel at ease
I no longer feel like a coward
F**king up on everything with every breath I breathe
But some days I want to stop
Feeling like everything's wrong
Trying to let go of the blade
Sometimes I can but not for long
It’s like I'm addicted to the pain
The feeling taking refuge in my veins
Leaving me feeling confused and alone
Wiping at the streaked tears that seem to be stained
Burned into my skin forever
Becoming a part that I cannot escape
Sometimes I just want to hurt all over
To scream at the top of my lungs until they break
I want to escape from my sadness
It’s taking over me
Why can’t I just rest
Why won’t it let me be
I just want to be free
. . .


from Best Teen Poems:
http://www.bestteenpoems.com

[Aish]

RAY!!!!!!!! Well, hello Fancy seeing you here - I really was away a long time. Shame on me.

"The reality of Mutilation" by TroubledSoul

No one really knows exactly how I feel
It's like a strong hatred for myself
that doesnt even seem real
you see the scars as part of my insanity
I see them for what they are-wounds that'll never heal
wounds inside of me represented by bloody lines
Its how I deal
with the inner pain that breaks away at me
I take a razor and cut it out so I just wont feel
the pain I always feel inside of me
Quit trying to steal the only real thing that I have left to feel- the crude mutilation of my body

[rayheinrich]

RAY!!!!!!!! Well, hello Fancy seeing you here

And hi yourself!
And touché on that entry. We DO know our cutter poetry, don't we?

[Aish]

Why yes, we do

[billy]

are they classed as good cutter poems?

[rayheinrich]

are they classed as good cutter poems?

Yes, to the extent that there exist good piles of rotting fish.
 

[billy]

[Aish]

Mine came from DarkStar. And NO I do not classify it as good - although some other individuals of like mind did.
I created a challenge of writing putrid poetry - lots of cutter stuff gets thrown in lol.

[rayheinrich]

Of course "good" in this sarcastic instance means "bad".

BUT, I did want to make clear that the "bad" I infer is strictly
an expression of my own tastes for poetry composition.

I DO think the poems are "good" to the extent that they are honest
attempts to speak about one's life. I try never to confuse these but
am never entirely successful.

[popeye]

when i say cutter poetry it's just that. poetry with usually teenage angst and dripping blood etc.
as Aish mentioned good poetry can be written about anything, cutter poetry is seldom good poetry.

Thanks billy, I guess it has it's place in moderation, poetry being the elusive art that it is, almost defying definition, maybe cutter should be prefixed by an avatar of Edvard Munch's Scream as a content warning!

[billy]

there's lots of people who love that sort of stuff. usually those new to poetry who are in the early to mid teens. usually they leave poetry after a while or move on to other types styles. for me it's a definite turn off, unless it's original