Rockstar

[billy]

First off, thanks for taking my feedback for what it was. i was going to remove the post based on what tecktaK said. now i'm glad i didn't. i did open a discussion in the discussion forum though it is hard to have someone go from non crack head to real crack head in a few stanza
how about a two parter, part one the lead up which could show a sympathetic view, and part two the actual abuse and effects which show the real dark side his addiction. the thing is people don't always tell you everything. most drugs that lift you up eg: coke also have a down side, after the initial high and lucidity you begin to become lethargic (remember your bodies metabolism has been working in overdrive for how ever long you've been concurrently using it. some people have slept for 3 days and longer after a good coke binge, powder or crack. the paranoia which was mentioned is a huge thing for heavy coke users. it's the one main thing that tears the family unit apart. all trust vanishes. the good thing with coke and crack is that it's not as addictive as people may think. remove the drug and there's no real withdrawal symptoms. unlike cigarettes, sat and sunday users are reasonably safe unless they can afford lots. maybe write from a different POV altogether? maybe from the POV as a family member/partner or child of the abuser. hope there's an idea in there somewhere and thanks once again for taking the post as you did.

@billy

What I mean, is that there are horrible physical side effects to alcohol/tobacco abuse, just like there are with crack, not that alcohol and crack are the same in actual effects. I've never done crack personally so I can't speak completely for it, I'm basing it on what I've been told and how coke feels. I'm more interested in the psychological side effects and they are what I want to represent in this poem. You've mentioned some, and I think they're all completely valid, particularly the coke mites (although lots of drugs do that, it's not just coke/crack) and the paranoia, but there isn't really a place in my poem where they fit. It's not personal enough. Maybe I should go in more depth and explore his feelings more. I should also point out that in the beginning of the poem he isn't actually on the crack, he only smokes it at the last stanza. His mind is dull and stale because he isn't on it - crack makes you active and wired. The societal effects of crack are pretty clear - he is homeless and ignored by people, thus a "ghost". I also did mention anxiety briefly, as "fear drives him to seek solace" - and I mentioned his mind cracking (if you say someone is cracking up, it is another way of saying they are going crazy) - his life is an endless nightmare because of his addiction. I don't think my poem exactly presents crack as being a wonderful drug. I only touch on the euphoria of it once. I'm not pro-crack or anything, I'm just sympathetic to people addicted to crack, and I do preach tolerance and understanding to and of all people, including crackheads. So my poetry does reflect that.

@tectak

I'm not sure if this counts as an outside discussion, as me and Billy are still talking about my poem, I'm trying to decide whether I need to go more in-depth and personal with how I describe crack. I think our discussion has less to do with my poem, so please don't think I'm being rude by not giving a big response, because actually it's you and me that are off topic (in fact you didn't offer me crit!), I just wouldn't want to have my thread moved based on that. I am totally up for a mycology discussion though! xD