Freedom of expression in Poetry.

[billy]

Oh come on, all of us can tell when a writer is depicting a horrific scene and when the writer is stating his or her personal views on a controversial subject.

Not if it's a good poem -- that is, for the duration of a well-written poem, the author is absent and all that is present is the voice speaking to the reader. If we absolutely must place so much emphasis on "what the writer is thinking", we're not experiencing the poem, we're judging the poet.

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I lie all the time in poems. I am really a middle-aged lorry driver from Ilford, and my only vice is the burning need to eviscerate puppies.

That sounds like turning poetry into an academic exercise, no wonder the general public doesn’t bother with it..

if you count the number of people in poetry forums, the amount would be greater than many think. even dividing them two or three times for all the forums they're in. not so many good or great poets but a lot of reasonable ones.

i think once you mix the poet and poem you come up with something the poet never intended. i look at the 1st and 2nd person within a poem but never look to the poet. shit, i thought george eliot was a man for the longest time, even after reading her works. the poet should lead and we should follow wear he goes, we should never try and see who they are within the poem. outside and from their poetry as a whole maybe but not from a single poem. academic exercise seems to be the opposite end of the starting posts spectrum. why can't there be a middle ground where the reader is a discerning reader and the poet is a decent poet. when i see leanne do a sonnet i often wish i had some schooling under my belt. while i dislike the crass academia of a secular specialist. we need the good academe who are their to share their knowledge and not procrastinate they're genius.