Essay Review: Are Poetry Boards Good For Poetry, The antithesis of 'What do poets enjoy most at MM' Options

[Cleo_Serapis]

Hello all,

Rus from the IBPC has put forth a new email loop and link even as some of our members are still researching the first, "What do poets enjoy the most about your forums" at the link below.
What do our poets enjoy the most at MM?

In this new thread, we'll look at an antithesis to that one. Click into this article carried by an E-zine:
The Pee in the Pool of On Line Poetry, by Terreson

This article focuses on the questions posed at its start: Are poetry boards good for poetry?

Do the boards benefit poets, the new and inexperienced especially who, in most cases, are grappling with the vital stuff of finding an authentic voice, gaining confidence in themselves, working through the canon, trying to figure out if they have something essential to say, and all at the same time? Do the boards, viewed as communities, engender poetry whose language is also authentic or do they falsify the poetry experience? Another question comes to mind. Is even the notion of an online poetry community good for poetry? And maybe one last question. What impact on poets, and on poetry itself, do the parameters, the rules of conduct and the by-laws, of many boards have?

As we all strive to build a knowledge base of what makes a poetry forum work best for the poets who sign into our forums, let's also examine what we do that is not working.

Please share your own thoughts here.

I, for one, hesitated on posting this thread, but do agree with some of what the essay alludes to; SOME, not all as you'll soon read for yourself.

Cheers,
~Cleo

[Cleo_Serapis]

You're most welcome. I'm only one opinion and for me, the bottom line is to take emotion out of any discussion, and base your response(s) from factual data. You'll never go wrong that way. Sure, people will disagree with you, and that's fine - but facts are facts. No sugar-coating it. It might not be pleasant, but it is what it is. It's like an old detective show where they pitch the phrase, "Just the facts, please." If there isn't enough data to support the points, then the discussion will go awry, hands down. It reminds me of our political contests here in the states - don't get me started on politics! Who do you think has more merit and can (and will) stick to their promises? Who has the most integrity? Who has the least vices? Who will do what is best for our country, not themselves? Everyone has skeletons in their closets.

One must also be open to differing views and suggestions in order to create change. That doesn't mean its OK to insult one another. Maybe I'm just made of a different mold, I dunno, but insults never worked for me. Our society is so acclimated to saying one thing, and doing another, especially on the internet. I often wonder if some of the critters were in a face to face situation, would they act the same way? I'd hedge a bet and say, not likely! There are far more liberties (as demonstrated in the responses to the essay) taken in written form in our age of the world wide web. I would think Chaucer, Shakespeare, Frost, Whitman, Shelly, Poe and all the greats would be rolling in their graves had they been part of our age. As the times change, so does the poetry. As much as I favor the bards of yore, modern poetry is here to stay. We all should re-learn/revisit best practices. Where has chivalry and respect for another gone? Damn if I know, other than it's a sign of the times. That doesn't mean one can't learn to appreciate the experiences they receive in poetry communities, as long as they realize it's not a 'one size fits all' process or environment. Clearly, each board has its own personalities, styles and cliques. I've bailed on a few of them myself and even the inspiration to create MM was because of things that I didn't like or were lacking at other forums when I began to interact in late 2002.

As you might guess, I analyze data in my day job, numbers - I'm the Finance Ops Supervisor of a Call Center. So it's engrained in my brain, LOL! But I do have an affinity for science!

Cheers,
~Cleo