a point arose about this is not poetry

[billy]

it seems we've chewed the shit out of this, or maybe not...i'd advise people now stand back or step away form the thread (gun) and take a moment to realize we're all friends here i say this because i see a stick of dynamite and a bag of flower. normally at this point some one lights a match and everyone else dives for cover....

here's my take, we have a varied and plentiful collection of people who give varied types of feedback. it's almost impossible to police feedback as to what is said. our rule is do not attack the poet and we may jump in if a crit is particularly offensive, other than that the poet chooses whether or not to accept what has been said, whether or not to say fuck that, this place isn't for me. personally i'm not a "this is shit" type of guy but i think it's fair comment if it's quantified with a good reason/s

one of best tools here is to toughen the poets up without stripping the skin of them. the aim for me is not only help the poet through feedback but to help the poet accept feedback. the only real answer for;

this is a shit poem
or
this is shit
or
this is not poetry

is;

thank you for your feedback

or
thank you for taking the time to leave a comment

or
could you help me improve it, or do you think i should just start over.

all these answer instil your maturity, all those answer will make the critic think about his reply and the last reply will almost certainly earn you respect in any critic's eye.

often the critique is not the problem it's the way we accept or decline it.

embrace the dark side people