"Bad" Poetry

After reading several "bad" poetry sites that attempt to humorously lambaste the writing efforts of poor, unsuspecting amateur poets from around the world wide web, I'm more convinced than ever that my writing would be torn to shreds by most critics. But as I was reading (keeping an eye out for my own name!) and even chuckling along at times, I couldn't help but feel these "critics" were missing the bigger picture. Have these snobby academic scholars been standing up on their platforms and behind their podiums, laughing at their own jokes for too long? They seem to have completely missed the fact that very few of these writers sat down in front of a keyboard with aspirations of becoming the next Browning or Frost. If these were published authors looking to be taken seriously, I could forgive some of their harshness. But for the most part these are regular people, like you or me, who simply put their thoughts and feelings into words and hit "send" putting them out into the world. A brave thing to do, in my opinion. For most of them, and myself, writing is an outlet and an enjoyable hobby, nothing more. And sometimes, even if an author didn't spend years and hundreds of thousands of dollars learning what a poem should and shouldn't be, their writing can still evoke feeling and affect others in a positive way. Yes, it's true! One of the biggest rewards I get from writing is to hear that my writing has inspired, moved, or helped someone else in some way. I'll take that over a positive review from an "expert" critic any day!

Furthermore, these long-winded "professors", clearly in love with the sound of their own voices, went beyond dissecting and flambeing the poems to ridiculing the authors themselves, while chortling loudly with great satisfaction. Isn't this a simple case of tearing someone down in order to build oneself up? Isn't this something bullies do on the playground in 2nd grade out of their own insecurities? Well, if making fun of others makes these "adults" feel better about themselves, then I truly feel sorry for them. As an aside, I realize I'm using a lot of quotation marks in this post, but that's nothing compared to the mental air quotes this topic conjures for me. So this is me holding back on the quotation marks, k?

Hey, I'm no saint! Oh, no. I've been known to pee my pants laughing at American Idol audition footage. But in my defense, I didn't ridicule them publicly and I always applauded their courage. So here's my response to the "experts" who feel the need to flame, for what it's worth. It's not an original idea, but one that bears repeating because it's oh-so-true:

Dance, even if you're no Astaire!
Sing, even if you're no Pavarotti!
Act, even if you're no Streep!
Write, even if you're no Shakespeare!
Paint, even if you're no Monet!
Use the voice God gave you, and do so as if no one is listening.

"All bad poetry springs from genuine feeling" - Oscar Wilde

Oh, Oscar was there ever silence in your house? You just have to chime in on everything!