a point arose about this is not poetry

[ChristopherSea]

Saying a poem is shit is not insulting. Poems can't be insulted, they are just words. Sometimes the most useful comment you can hear is "this is shit, burn it and start over" it let's you know.

If it is shit, and no one tells you, you will just keep writing shit.

True. Sometimes the answer is:

There is nothing to build upon here. You need to start over.

I've had that delivered to me from time to time, and its a good thing to know.

One thing to clarify from an earlier post, In my opinion the reader isn't your teacher. The reader is simply a reader. That they have a strong, bad reaction tells you something.

You can feel free to agree or disagree with them as the writer.

That's a much better way to say it, verses this is crap.