05-03-2017, 09:32 AM
"Or are poets just a bunch of opinionated narcissists with pretentious views that amount to nothing?" Yep 
Seriously though -- generally I've found that the people who try to circumscribe poetry are the ones whose writing I enjoy the least. Anyone who thinks they're actually original is forgetting the entire back catalogue of humanity that they're drawing from and then adding into. Sometimes, the "new big thing" is decided by a committee of academics whose only real goal is to perpetuate they're own perceived brilliance (even though many said academics are not especially good writers themselves, but do want to have their name associated with posterity in some way).
So. Poetry, like all art, is subjective. Personally, I subjectively rebel against being told I must or must not like something. I like loads of uncool things, and despise many poems that others insist are super awesomely amazing and I'm "just not getting it". I'm pretty good at "getting it". Sometimes, I just have no common ground with the poet.
The poets I do like the most are those whose personality is evident in their poetry. Sometimes they're a bit cheeky, or irreverent -- sometimes they're just really damned thoughtful and give me a different way to look at things. Sometimes they're just plain silly. I never know what I'm going to enjoy, but when I find it I love it to death because it's a very rare thing.
I don't know if that answers any of your dilemmas, but at least you're not posting Facebook crap in discussions so massive high five to you!
Seriously though -- generally I've found that the people who try to circumscribe poetry are the ones whose writing I enjoy the least. Anyone who thinks they're actually original is forgetting the entire back catalogue of humanity that they're drawing from and then adding into. Sometimes, the "new big thing" is decided by a committee of academics whose only real goal is to perpetuate they're own perceived brilliance (even though many said academics are not especially good writers themselves, but do want to have their name associated with posterity in some way).
So. Poetry, like all art, is subjective. Personally, I subjectively rebel against being told I must or must not like something. I like loads of uncool things, and despise many poems that others insist are super awesomely amazing and I'm "just not getting it". I'm pretty good at "getting it". Sometimes, I just have no common ground with the poet.
The poets I do like the most are those whose personality is evident in their poetry. Sometimes they're a bit cheeky, or irreverent -- sometimes they're just really damned thoughtful and give me a different way to look at things. Sometimes they're just plain silly. I never know what I'm going to enjoy, but when I find it I love it to death because it's a very rare thing.
I don't know if that answers any of your dilemmas, but at least you're not posting Facebook crap in discussions so massive high five to you!
It could be worse