POETIC EFFRONTERY

All writers have a gift to express themselves. Encourage writers to work at becoming strong in their gift. Don't tear them down to lift yourself up!

 

 

It is pure ignorant effrontery to say you’re a bard above the sublime
To use your pernicious baneful ego to tell poets they're a waste of time
You swat at their inspiration which is like a bee coming to explore
You never allow their ideas to pollinate before you slam them to the floor
Lost in your own ineptitude you attack every fledgling sonneteer
Forgetting the purpose of a poet's gift is to bless the world with something pure

 

Who are you to judge what is graceful and of good taste?
Who are you to criticize what is haphazard or a waste?

 

Whether they are an odist or an elegist every poet in this world belongs
Every writer is a lyricist that teaches the world their unique song
Closed minded ignorant versifier you are complacent with your gift
Your pettishness is markedly juvenile; you will suffer for all these silly tiffs
Open your mind to possibility, encourage new writers everyday
Before one day you seek to criticize and realize your own gift has gone away

 

© 2013 Eddie Phillips

Author's Note

I have seen comments on here that are just insulting to writers. I have never received a negative comment like this but it burns me every time I read one. It is okay to give a comment or suggest a correction. It is not okay to criticize a person personally. It takes premeditated malicious audacity to be rude like that. No one forces you to read someone's work. Having said that don't slam them when you do. Especially if English is not their first language. It is pompous and ill-willed. Think before you try to kill another persons gift. You may also be damning yourself!

Reviews

[Tom]

I agree with the rationale behind your well thought out and poetically penned muse, though to counter slightly, constructive criticism is a very positive aid to any would be literary writer/poet ! But no one can stand a 'big-head', that's for sure !!

(take a look at my own poem 'Egotistical' it kind of supports both our views)

[Eddie Phillips]

thanks for reading this poem. I agree that constructive criticism is a must. I however don't think people should insult people expressing ideas. That is not creativity. If you truly have the spirit of creativity you will foster it in others when you see it. I will read your poem. Thanks for stopping by.

[eatme]

I agree. It is a hard knock life. What I can say so many years in, IF ONLY in the beginning a mentor had properly beaten me up to tell me the basics and not let me indulge amateur behaviors. Agents are scumbags looking for a free ride and know nothing about writing. Publishers are scumbag gatekeepers who bottleneck the art to control 'supply and demand'. The public can't get too many great books at a time because it divides up the money pot too much. Like film, they never take risk because the money is in pushing the same old that sells. Everyone will beat you up. People have suicided over the constant rejections by know nothings then get the Pulitzer for fiction after they are dead.

If you can't take a beating... get out of boxing.
Writers are fighters or you won't survive.
Just the way it is.
Big truth is: people are selfish.
Anyone who takes the time to teach you, is a great human being and a friend.
All those phony sycophants giving you 5 stars for cliche' crummy crap, are poisoning you with their lies, SAME AS BOXING. "Oh, you are the greatest boxer I have ever seen! You should get in the ring with Kill Kowalski!" Yeah, Killer Kowalski will kill you send you home in a body bag.

Take the pain.
Consider the advice that will make your work better. BETTER. Someone offered to make you BETTER and you turn it down? You must be nuts.

[Eddie Phillips]

I do agree. I will offer this point. Many of the people on here are not trying to be professional writers. They are just trying to express themselves and find a way to gain peace. Many welcome criticisms but that does not mean they should be personally attacked and called stupid, ignorant, or illiterate. I have seen all those comments on here. The people who make these comments are not true agents of creation. They are as you stated "no nothings" who try to get pleasure by attacking others. LOL I loved this discussion. I seriously thank you for your time.

[Tom]

like I said, 'constructive criticism' !

[eatme]

The excellence of our species is paramount. The art, literature, and intellectual grace of our species is paramount. The needs of the professionals MATTER. The needs of the 'I came here to yahoo chat with my friends.' people are irrelevant. They need to find a chat room, not a writer's club.

[Eddie Phillips]

So I would say that you critique their writing and not their lifestyle or culture. I would say that you encourage them and not hold them down. If you see all creativity as a professional venture then you have lost the "true love" of writing. What is the professional need to tell a mother that is writing about her grief that she needs to move on and write somewhere else. What is the professional motivation of telling a 15 year old blossoming writer to stop writing until he knows what he is talking about. Where is the admonition of the gift of writing? If you are so professional that you no longer love what you do then it is a task and not a gift. Professionals matter to those who want to publish and further their legacy in literature. Professionals do not matter to the writers who are just learning to fly. Mentor them and encourage them. If you want to be selective then realize that at some point someone may think you are inferior and shut you out. I prefer not to be a sycophant that only wants to hear people praise me. I however do not want to be a pretentious elitist that attacks people because they are not what I consider a writer to be. That is not growth and that is not the supreme rule of creativity. Even in critique we should encourage.

[eatme]

I pity the dead plant. It makes me sad.
My pitcher only holds so much water.
Should I water the seedlings with promise, or water the dead plant in a gesture of sorrow?
I have limited time and resources.
This is simply reality.
So to make it entirely clear,
I am in a lifeboat in freezing waters.
Two people cry out to me for help. I have a floatation device on a rope.
One cries, "I can make it! I want to live!"
The other cries, "I can't make it! I want to live!"
I throw the preserver to the one with determination.
Being the ruthless business that it is, both writers will probably drown unsung.
I can try to help one of them.
I will help the one who thinks he can make it.
The writers here looking for chat entertainment will be left to drown.
I don't have the resources for both.
I will use my energy WISELY.

[Tom]

A magnanimous riposte Eddie ! You are indeed a literal intellect that possesses not just creativity but compassion ! Most worthy traits for any writer!

[Tom]

Easy come easy go...that's me !

[Eddie Phillips]

This will be my final post on this. You are talking to a man that has spent 16 years in the military so you analogy of saving a life is rudimentary and general. You assume that you are the only one that can save someone. You assume its only your time. You assume they need only you to help them. They don't because there are many people who will help those who need it. I would ask you to put yourself as the person drowning. Survival is not based off whether you were determined or not. It is entirely up to the person to "choose" who they will save. In the military we try to save as many as we can until we cannot save anymore because of time or loss of life. "Leave no man behind!" I would also say to you that nothing in your analogy gives you the right to curse the person that is going to drown or laugh while they are drowning. We are talking about decency. I am a INTJ which is a rare personality type. We are logical and judgmental but even I know that you don't try to harm others. If you use your energy to save only those you deem worthy then that is your choice. I would however ask you to remember the Titanic and all those who were chosen to live and all those who died needlessly because of the same thought process you just displayed. LOL It is not about you wanting to make people a bastion of professional literature. It is about allowing people to write what they want and helping them (If you choose to) become better in their writing. That is the case and there is very little argument against that. However I will affirm that you have the freedom to choose what we want to do. So you do what you must and I will do what I must. There is no further argument that needs to be fostered after that point.

[eatme]

I deeply deeply DON'T THANK YOU for the military. You DESTROYED AMERICA. You TOOK AWAY our freedoms. You were MERCENARY FOR BANKERS, to still FREEDOM from others. You helped murder women and kids. I have no freedoms left. NONE! So when YOU LIE, you defended my freedoms? You sucked at it. There are all gone. Constitution is gone. Obama is JOINING AL QAEDA to attack Syria for Israel. Al Qaeda attacks for us as mercenaries? Well yeah, trained by the CIA, like on 911. If you had not joined, if NO ONE had joined, their evil might have dried up. Thanks for fighting for foreign bankers to ruin the world. You came to the wrong place to find someone dumb enough to fall for that flag waving sophistry. Re enlist, you can go join Obama's Al qaeda and destroy another nation for Israel. You know ISRAEL? That country of white power? They at this second are deporting all their blacks to Uganda. That WHITE POWER ISRAEL where you can never be welcome or live... you fight for? How smart was that. Thanks for nothing.

[Tom]

Like I said, easy come easy go with a bit of constructive criticism thrown in for good measure, that's about all I can say !

[Eddie Phillips]

HAHAHAHAHA! Okay well there goes the rational person argument! Kudos! I don't talk to the irrational and hateful. I will however pray that you understand life better.

[Eddie Phillips]

I agree with you Tom.

[Lydia Shutter]

Kudos to you, Eddie! It is wonderful to see someone express what I have been thinking for a long time. Constructive criticism is wonderful for any writer, but nasty insulting comments have no place on a site such as this one....or really anywhere. You've used great metaphors here, the rhyming is super, and the sentiment, well, you are a compassionate and nice person. Glad I read this one. lydi**

[Eddie Phillips]

I try to be understanding to everyone. I don't think anyone has all the answers but we don't have to attack people and stifle the flow of creativity. Thank you for your kind words.

[Illidan]

I love this! (I know that isn't constructive criticism, but hey :)). You have a great sense of the line! Specially "Forgetting the purpose of a poet's gift is to bless the world with something pure" and "Every writer is a lyricist that teaches the world their unique song". those lines are pure gold! I'm glad I read this :)

[Eddie Phillips]

Thank you so much for the kind review you gave. I wanted this poem to speak to the unjust way people are torn down just for expressing themselves. We can critique but not destroy. Thanks again for reading.

[Baby Ricochet]

Most of my reviews are flip remarks acknowledging I read the piece. What in the hell do I know about critiquing poetry. Im just a red neck with a Smart phone.

[Eddie Phillips]

LOL I agree what the heck do I know about it either. I read and write to make myself happy. I think that is the nature of a man. Self gratification first! LOL Thanks for reading brother.

[MsJewel]

I agree. Constructive criticism is one thing, but being vicious is unacceptable. Great poem. Well written and a pleasure to read. :) Julie

[Eddie Phillips]

Thank you Julie. I appreciate you reading this poem and connecting with its meaning.

[KaylasPoetryBook]

"Open your mind to possibility, encourage new writers everyday
Before one day you seek to criticize and realize your own gift has gone away" That line spoke to me and brought me back to a review I received like this once where the woman didn't give her constructive criticism but instead tried to tear me down. It hurt but I never stopped writing and I even feel that that experience made me a stronger writer. This is another great piece! You're awesome (:

[Eddie Phillips]

Thank you. I hate to hear stuff like that. I always try to encourage and help people. It is okay to give a helpful critique but you should never seek to destroy a person. The gift of writing is a wonderous talent. Like all talents it has to be molded to perfection. That comes with patience and a open mind and heart. Closed minded comments help no one. All it does is hinder the process. I appreciate your kind words. I try to write honestly and with heart. I am glad it reached you.

[Cody Williams]

AMEN! Great write! Thanks for sharing it!

-CW

[Eddie Phillips]

Thank you for reading.

[rubie]

it's so sad when the egos of a few destroy those more fragile. we should look upon ourselves as a community of writers who support and encourage each other. that is the only way we will make each other strong.

there is no place for comments that are harsh, caustic and destructive on writing sites. that defeats the purpose of exchange of idea. when you attack a poem, you attack the poet; each poem is a manifestation of what is inside the writer.

this is a wonderful write, which should be required reading for everyone on each of these sites.

thank you for sharing your thoughts.

[Eddie Phillips]

Thank you rubie I agree.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

amen! Eddie--

i have been on several sites...got kicked off of one...too many elitists who were really mean in their criticisms...had a really coarse way of slamming poets and their poetry...i saw lots of poets die...

one of my exes was beaten up on that site and didn't write for a year...it was not constructive criticism, it was destructive.

there is no place of that...we can make helpful suggestions without annihilating the poets with harsh, sarcastic words.
we all started somewhere...and yes, you are right...there are those on here striving for betterment of their art, for publication etc.

but some are just expressing, ranting, doing confessional style poetry, needing to get it out...just writing as a release.

and there is another thing to all this...poetic styles and tastes vary significantly...i may not like rhyme too much, or hallmark style poetry so much...but there is a market for it...

everyone doesn't write or want to read metaphorical poetry, or extreme literary, English department poetry...

some like accessible and relate to that...

i think often we may criticize pieces based on what we write, or prefer to read, not realizing everyone doesn't have to write the same way.
well...i like this poem...i was on penwrights..a site where those who critiqued the most harshly, were actually very average or less with their own work...they seemed to feel better about themselves by bashing others, belittling them with downwrite abrasive critiques...not constructive. i was liked there for awhile until i started going after some of these folks to try to get them to ease up...suddenly i was a black sheep...i fought for as long as i could but then they kicked me off the site.

there is a way to do it...we need to help yes, but also encourage...and not make anyone feel his or her words are a waste of time...theirs and/ or ours.

[Eddie Phillips]

I agree with you whole heartedly. Your reflections on the problem are spot on. We can critique and help writers to be better without insulting them. I have seen some pretty abrasive stuff posted to people that would never be said face to face. I have a thick skin but when I see people reviewing a poem just to slam a person "personally" that is not professional or justifiable. The point of my poem is that you don't have to strangle the creativity out of a person. For some people their writing is their lifeline. Sadly if sites want to allow this to happen people will leave and sites will shut down. So then all creativity that could have been generated is lost.

[Frieda P]

Hear hear and AMEN to that!

[Eddie Phillips]

Thanks for reading. Helpful criticism is good. it fosters creativity and makes a writer want to write. Yet there is always that element of destruction that tries to choke out a writers voice. That is who this poem was written for. We are all learning daily and writing what we learn. I feel we should encourage that. Thanks again for stopping by.

[Frieda P]

I agree, there's a helpful critique and then just plain old mean criticizing...doesn't help with the scheme of poetry...my pleasure Eddie, you tell it like it is.

[Laminators Dubai]

and i never do that...just so you know...