Poemranker [Replying] Mon May 20 04:09:50 PDT 2024

Replying to a comment on:

Embers of burned out nights still glow between us while old dust gathers 'round our feet years since I danced with you in that young ballroom tonight so pensive, philosophical that room seems a former life Back hurting, heart recluse it's a matter of indifference reincarnation, I think to a lesser karma Hospital visits replace bedroom visits expensive restaurants for sack lunches It's not that I've given up on love it's just another kind â less passionate, more soulish happy with someone who's done the miles opened his once-closed mind and might even, before its too late his heart too

zodiac

30-Apr-05/6:59 AM

What a breathtakingly silly bunch of things to say.

Here's my silly thing: I thought we were entering some new period of getting along. Oops.

As for your comment, yes, of course we have different criteria for judging goodness (though not as different as you think.) But the question was, which do YOU think is your best? Not which do I think. I obviously think this one is your best. I believe I've already said so.

So, again, because I'm really curious and want to understand you, which of your poems do you think is your best?

And incidentally, not contradicting yourself has everything to do with content and nothing to do with form. Please note that the poems I picked as my best are my least formal and most content-filled. The contradictory poems I was referring to are the most formal. If I were required to pick between content and form, I'd pick content any day. Luckily, I'm not usually required to because most good poems are good in both respects. If you think, what a load of crap, zodiac always criticizes form and never content - well, first you're wrong. If you don't believe me, take a look at my comments on "Middle-Aged White Woman", for one. I comment on the content of your poems easily as much as I comment on their form.

This despite that, truth be told, I'm a little uneasy about criticizing the "content" of most people's poemranker posts. Is pain really pleasure? Are hobos worse than salesmen? Is God really a great bearded beard-mount? Who knows? And how the hell do you criticize that? Oh, right. Like you do, with a pithy bit of summarization and a 10. In all honesty, I believe a poet can get away with saying most anything if he says it well. If he doesn't, it's still easier to let him know the poem doesn't work by way of criticizing his formal mistakes than by criticizing his content mistakes. So I take the easy way out -so what? I still comment more substantively than any other poemranker user.

Thanks,
zodiac

PS-I think this is your best poem for both its formal and content-oriented elements. Check and mate.

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