You're just mad because even after six months' absence, my poemvote:poem ratio still kicks yours's ass.

By the way, excellent spelling on "tangentially" or "tangentally". Ace distinction between random and tangentially-related, too! By the way, your bum, and kissing -=D_A=-,P.I.'s and Jeremi's ass isn't going to keep you out of the "pee closet" for another six months.

And PS-Like you'd fucking know you fucking numbwad. I'm the fucking on-topic commenter here. And shamefully so, as you'd know if you weren't using the Poemranker Instruction Manual only to prop yourself up to the level of your desk.

Can you explain to me what "an immitation [sic] of the idea of the thing" means? I bet not.

Like the rest of your comments: fluff, unfunny, and I don't even get the standard 'Shuushin Ten' on one of my poems for bothering with it.

On the morning camel ride here, I tried to think of an accurate test for "this poem holds together on an emotional level". The best I can come up with is something like "this poem arouses in its intended audience one or more of the following: a) any feeling at all, b) the feeling that the author intended, c) a feeling of "working", if such a thing is possible - a kind of satisfied postwhemy feeling of completion, maybe.

Of course, if you ask Dovina she's just going to say the only audience she ever intended is herself, so of course it works. I'd say you have to intend more than half of your audience, the way you'd say a joke "works" if a majority of the crowd laughs. I'd also say choice c) is the best measure, but I could be totally asstalking.

I also tried to invent another test for 'knowing what Dovina thinks and believes'. Advanced Degree from an Accredited School is all I've got.

Regarding your Jesus example: I find there are any number of ways it could work on an emotional level. I imagine Osama bin Laden, for one, moved to tears by the tale of another warren-bound recluse, forever ostracised for prefering a flowing and somewhat varminty beard over a clean shave or even muttonchops. You have to admit, this is likely the emotion which Jesu meant to impart.

Of course, the real emotional impact of Jesu's burrowing is not the burrowing itself, but that he ultimately flew out of his den (cf. "On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices, popcorn and DVDs they had prepared and went to the burrow. They found the stone rolled away, but when they entered, they did not find the Lord Jesus skulking around in his pyjamas (as was his custom on Sundays and most other days). While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in rather flashy capes stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for Jesus in his hole? He is not here; he has flown away!")

I imagine this registers pretty well with anybody who's ever been pigpiled by their older brothers and then wormed their way out into sweet sweet assy-smelling sunlight.