I had a friend of sorts back a while back. His name was Paul. He was a facinating man. He was beautiful. He also had insights that while simple struck at the core of the things he talked about. We had a small conversation about poetry. I mentioned that while I write quite a bit of poetry I never (or close to never) share them with anyone. Why? I felt they were to personal and I wrote them just for me. I think that Paul also saw that in part I was very insecure about the talent level of my poems. So Paul responded with his view on poetry. He thought that poetry was an expressive art. As such in order to fully express it one must share it. But that wasn't enough, one must get feed back from it and incoperate the feed back into how the poem effected you. This way the art effected others and others effected you. It was the process of being connected to other human beings that gave poetry it's beauty. If one didn't share one's poetry it wasn't art, it wasn't poetry, it was just a journal entry.
So I want my poetry to truely be art. So I've decided to come out of my shell in a very limited way by posting some lines from some poems. Hey baby steps. Here goes:
That awkward moment of distance when you are close,
Reminds me of how unfortunate life can be,
There is more to this poem, but that's all I'm willing to post. Hey I'm posting it for me.
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3 comments:
What happens when you write poetry that you, yourself doesn't like.
I've played the guitar for several years and, for a long time, fancied myself a potential singer-songwriter (I wanted to start a band...mostly for the chicks). Yet, virtually everything I wrote, lyrically, was crap, even in my own eyes. I didn't even like hearing or reading my lyrics myself.
In such a situation, should one still venture to share the "art" with others?
I don't think my disdain for my own work was insecurity. I just knew that if I heard someone else singing lyrics like mine...I'd make fun of them.
I think when one shares art one has to have a clear sense of what the expectations are. (Granted there are always exceptions that break the rule in Art, yes that’s art with a capital A.) If you are sharing because you think you have something people need to hear about then yes definitely share the art with others. Now if your “art” is bad then you might think about ways to edit and rework it so it’s more accessible and makes the message more powerful. If you’re trying to become an artist I think you have to share it. If it’s all bad you might want to reconsider vocations.
Another consideration is that this was one person’s point of view. Now I’m not certain as to its correctness, but I’m leaning that it is correct in part.
Back to expectations. If you think that all your expression will be great then I think that is a mistake. One shouldn’t be “hey this is great listen to it.” I prefer “hey this expressed something important or entertaining to me.” In that light it’s not about how much you can affect the world, it’s how much can you be connected with each other.
If you yourself don’t like the art you are generating I think it’s time to ask why you don’t like it. Another thing is if you give it to others and they say why they don’t like it maybe it will help you in some way. It’s like turning in a paper you think is garbage. If someone else tells you it’s garbage and why they think it is; it will only give you tools to make your paper better. I think the fear of embarrassment hinders us from becoming better artist. I’m not saying we can be great artist, but we can be better
Bryan, to your opinion of your lyrics there are two comments. Frankly if you are looking for good lyrics, some people just aren't talented. I don't mean that you aren't talented, I still remember nearly wetting myself when I heard the song you wrote on your mission. It was hilarious. My point is I agree with Jimmy, if the actual writing of lyrics is enjoyable to you, whether on an emotional or just a time consumption level, then it is worthwhile, regardless of whether the actual lyrics are "good"
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