Is This The WORST "Poetry" Book Ever?

I wouldn't call myself a poet but this would be my attempt on writing about anxiety (which I have / this is what it feels like to me): My mind is Earth and Sky united in a tight embrace, like the old stories, but a eerie stillness that seems to be endless. There is no Sun nor Moon not even the Stars - I am in a vast nothingness. I am stuck between silence and crying, sometimes my fingers hurt from trying to pry the sibling-lovers apart. Sometimes, I feel I am the only one who can do this. But, then on days, my fingers cut, blood reminds me I am only human. I breathe in and out, slowly, sing and dance my favorite music, and start over again.

Greetings do you do paid coaching sessions because I really need to improve my writing overall understanding of poetry.
I run a monthly open mic in Nashville TN called Poboys and poets and I really believe in these young minds but I must educate myself more if I want grow the scene in Nashville. I’m mostly a slams style poet but I get tired of the cliche lines

I think one of the differences between good poetry and bad poetry is that it depends on brother, whether or not that person actually went off and studied poetry, took the time to learn about poetry took the time to read other poetry from other people, and took the time to learn a thing or two From well-known and well written poetry me I did that’s where I started my journey I’m a poet I write poetry I post on Instagram, but I actually post fall poetry not just one line and Collett poetry post fall long poetry and that is how I write and the reason why is because I’ve always been a long writing poems that that’s what I write as long poetry and I Have a good teacher thing about people who choose to do poetry and it’s really bad. I think it’s because they don’t look for someone to teach them. They don’t learn from other poets that are already around like yeah it’s great you wanna be a poet, but you gotta learn from other posts that are around you gotta learn from even singers because even singers who write songs write poetry they just turn it into songs and I had of a very good teacher. Her name is Sinead O’Connor she came out in 1987 with Lion and the cobra and she was a very very famous singer and that was my teacher so she taught me poetry and she started teaching at 18 years old but I think what happens also too. Is they start writing poetry and then they put it out right away. They don’t perfect it they don’t honing on their craft. They don’t take the time to write poetry effectively, but they also don’t take time to work on it and learn theirs and figure out their style for their poetry because everybody has their own style whoever does poetry they have their own style, but they don’t take the time to find it they just want. To write poetry and then put it out they don’t understand that the process of Audrey is you write shitty poetry in the beginning then you continue writing you’re perfect your craft, you find your voice you find your uniqueness of your poems and then once you find your own unique style that is just you and you’ve perfected that and then you’re ready to go then you’re ready to be a social media, poet or write a poetry book and then you’re ready to go but it takes years before it happens. I’ve been in POET. Since I was 18 years old. I am 23. I’m gonna be 24 so I’ve been in POET for at least six years. I didn’t start Posting my poetry, Intel, maybe two years into writing poetry possibly three probably three I would say three years it took me three years before I started posting anything to do with my poetry but it’s because I worked my ass off to perfect it into find my own voice, and to find my uniqueness of my poetry, and that’s what I did, and I learned to find myself in my uniqueness of my poetry by having the great teacher I have, and that Sinéad O’Connor and you have to find yourself a teacher you have to find someone who is a person. You are willing to learn from because poultry is about learning poetry avengers always stirring poems. OK now I’m a poet know it takes time you have to write crappy poetry. First don’t post it don’t do nothing with it then once you find yourself and you finally know your style and your self enough and your uniqueness of your poetry once you know that then you can start posting and that’s when people don’t get the process of poetry you will write shit before it’s good. You will write 100 200 300 for it however money poems and they are trash shit dirt your first homes are always trash shit dirt you’re always gonna be like that all my poems that I wrote in the beginning when I was 18 years old are crap they suck they’re terrible. They said I didn’t. I didn’t even know where I was going. I had no style no uniqueness no nothing and now I’m 23 going to be 24 now I post my poems on my social media and things like that and man a lot of people love them but you know why it’s because they’re good they have their unique style. They stand out. They are one of a kind they are unique they have such uniqueness to them, because I worked my ass off writing poetry since I was 18 years old since Dolores O’Riordan died Dolores O’Riordan is my first idol, and she got me into writing in the first place, and so I would write short stories in that sort of thing, but I started writing poetry after Dolores Riordan died, and that was because Sinead O’Connor help me grieve Dolores‘s death, and she help me find poetry and she help me find my uniqueness and my style, and she help me i’m the poet that I am, but I also had a very great teacher, a.k.a. Sinead O’Connor that’s the thing about people who want to do poetry they don’t look for a great teacher to teach them like it’s great you wanna do poetry but you gotta look for a good teacher, learn from Weather and be a singer or an actual protest but you have to look somewhere and find your teacher. I found mine. Mine is Sinead O’Connor, but That’s a part of the poetry journey. Do you want to be a poet? You gotta find the one teacher that is right for you where are the your soul and their soul match up and work together? Poetry is never a standalone do by yourself thing. i’m gonna be honest it is a kick in the teeth because when I go to Ramen bones, they can take upwards to a whole day to write all the way to a week before. It’s actually ready to go and post a bowl for Any of my social medias I take my time when writing them and even after I post on my social media sometimes I find that there is an issue or problem still with the poem still and I will go into the original copy and fix it cause it’s just not flowing right or somethings wrong with it but at least I take my time

Thank you for voicing my frustration with “poetry” that is just words on a page. I have wasted time and money on poetry books that have left me scorned

Your channel has been a big help in finding the errors of my own writing, thank you 💙

I love how you conveyed that all poetry is subjective! I saw a couple of your video poetry performances and I thought they were fantastic.

"but he / could not see / your value", I think it would be harder, even in prose, to write something more flat. Perhaps "the sky is blue" or "I'll have fish and fries for dinner"...

pretty sure everyone wrote better poetry in my 6th grade class.

Hmm bad poetry, bad poetry. Perhaps it comes from the writers refusal to travel, perhaps from their refusal to read other writers. Hmm bad poetry, it comes from a lack of courage, it comes from wanting to be pretty.

I'm in love with "Recension Day". Wow. Thank you for introducing me to that. My imagination caught fire in the lead up to that finale.

It honestly seems like it may have been written as a poetry book for young girls, like maybe 7 or 8?

I wonder if asthetic poetry is a better term? You know its there for the instagram poetry aesthetic as opposed to the art form itself

That Maya Angelou poem is perfection.

The poem where she is the storm inspired this poem that I just wrote.

She Was a Force of Nature

She was a force of nature,
beautiful, strong, and terrifying
to men as trees fallen before
the ancient face of Vesuvius’ fury.
How the fire (seen in her soul)
burns the world
burns the world
til everyone flees from her,;
or dies.

James E. Roethlein copyright 2023

Just subscribed 5 minutes past. Poetry well read. That is all we ask.

Would you be willing to review my self published poetry book .. I’ll send it to you for free

Don't take her remarks too seriously, she's just venting.

Would this be considered an incomplete thought of a poem as is prevalent in most instapoetry?

Eyes As

Eyes as pale sapphire seas,
ocean deep wellsprings
of Heaven and eternity
peering back at me.

James E. Roethlein copyright 2022

The counter-example poems were really beautiful.

I love whenever people's pets randomly stroll into camera hehe

Had to reread recension day the moment you were done. I don't read a lot of poetry... But holy shit that was good.

Every time your dog looks up towards you while you’re speaking (in any of your videos) it always makes me smile.

I am an autistic person and, while I enjoy the ride of reading poetry, I’ve always had a very hard time seeing more in a poem beyond face value. These videos have given me so much insight into how to really look at poetry, honestly I’ve gotten more from these than I did in any English classes. I’ve also heard of the ‘show don’t tell’ idea but I don’t think I’ve ever had it explained this well. I love it.

I am the worst poet ever.

Love and Loyalty

Love stood before Loyalty her soon to be husband and a chapel full of wedding guests wearing a crown of olive leaves, dressed in light, and holding a bouquet of pink lilies. Love and Loyalty looked into each other's eyes and exchanged vows.

Written by: Keith Edward Baucum.

I am the worst poet ever

About the recension day poem—I love what you had to say about the imagery he uses, that it’s impossible to “unburn a bridge.” All that imagery, and the way the poet phrases it, also makes me think of the futility of those actions. Sometimes, when you’ve broken up with someone, you try to move mountains to get them back. But at the end of the day, the relationship is over. There’s no point in trying to “replace the smoke” in the fire.

im not a poetry person, but holy fuck recension day gave me chills. what an insanely beautiful poem

As much as I hate Instagram "poetry," I think some of the poems you use for comparison are given too much credit as well.

For example, Abigail Cook's poem starts by comparing her body to a garden, and lists various aspects of her body that could be compared to aspects of a garden.

Out of nowhere, she interrupts this to compare her hair to the ocean...an element which is not at all characteristic of a garden. That comparison becomes irrelevant as she begins to ascribe basic natural attributes to herself (stars, pearls, birds, etc) that are only vaguely thematically similar to a garden...in that, they're all "natural." So, is she really like a garden? Or is she just like the broad and unspecific premise of "nature?"

At the end, she indicates her "stretch marks are like lightning bolts that show she can survive growth."
But this is the ONLY physical characteristic which she has accurately ascribed meaning to.

Stretch marks are legitimately connected to the premise of physical growth, which suits a metaphor well.

However, stars have no physiological relevance to freckles, nor does she allude to the function/purpose of her freckles. In fact, she does not do this with her hair, her ribs, her skin, or any of the other features she previously mentioned. She ONLY does this with stretch marks, specifically.

Basically the poem is "this body part vaguely resembles nature." Followed by "this body part MEANS this...but also still resembles nature too." Imo, it kind of ruins the flow of the poem.

It isn't terrible by any means. It's still a beautiful and empowering piece of literary art. But if you're going to heavily critique poetry, there are better poems you could use as a reference for "good" poetry.

It irks me to no end when people think a short poem is an easy ticket to success. Short poetry can be just as difficult to write - even harder in some ways. A key element that a lot of succinct poetry relies on is imagery, much like those short one or two sentence stories do.

That one where she wrote, "crying / is never a weakness" ??

I could write something far, far more evocative with that idea. What she wrote is Not a poem. Its an idea. Im frustrated, beyond measure right now.

Once you ask for money for your work, you are held to a higher standard of criticism, self-published or not.

A book named ASCENDING WITHIN BY NAVI. Is for Rumi fans....avail on Kindle..

Reviews helps authors and poets a lot

Can someone tell me how to go about self-publishing a book?

Anna Akhmatova is groaning from her grave.

In life, he loved three things:

Vespers, white peacocks,
Old crinkled maps of America,
He didn't love the cries of children
Tea with raspberry jam,

And feminine hysterics
...And I was his wife. - Anna Akhmatova...

Direct and beautiful. What happened to this talent? It's out there but the New York Times and modern media wants to bathe the world in the peurile. Hence, Insta poets. Bestsellers lists tell me what not to read.

Thank you, Rachel. You've led me back to poetry! I wrote little poems for my friends at 15 years old and you've inspired me to do it again, but better :)

A lot of the shorter ones sound more like fortune cookies than poems.

Rachel, you bought a bad book, but you did a bona fide review on it. So, you didn't spend your money in vain.

I’ve been watching a lot of critiques on songs, movies, poems, etc. and I feel like a lot of peoples issues are just not putting time, effort, and thought into art. Not saying it simply becomes easy once you do, but, I feel like that’s the biggest issue with people jumping into an art form they dont know

Another thing I don't understand is why so much poetry uses upper case (capital letters) for the beginning of every line in every verse. Whatever happened to lower case until the sentence has ended. That kind of layout makes each line seem like a separate statement instead of a continuation of the whole meaning of a sentence.

What do you think about poets being published by hybrid publishers? Does that form of publishing encourage 'bad' poetry, or bring a poet's personal thoughts to the public in a useful way?

I'm so disappointed I can't find My Body or much of Abigail Cook's work online! That was a beautiful poem and I relate to it - especially the tree trunk legs. :') Wish I could find/save a copy of it somewhere.

Rachel's analysis are deeper than any of these poems. :')

Instagram poets get all the views and likes. That's the truth.

I wrote three poetry books and wanted to send one to you but not im terrified you'll hate them and tell me im a horrible writer..

Thank you for saving me some money!

Modern poetry needs more Poe and less kaur

I found your channel thanks to GH drama and I couldnt be more thankful! What a gem!
Also, a specific comment on this video: I think the facebook comment I left on a random post ("Brexit took my haggis") is more poetic than most of this book's content hahahahaha indeed it's bad. Oof.

I think the claims of misogyny were a bit of a stretch, I just think they're really cliched, but I agree with you that these are bad.