ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Shelley wrote: ... and when this poetic adventure stops being fun, I'll definitely take it as a sign to hang up my hat!!

Cheers, Shelley

Now THAT'S the spirit ...

So , after I posted last on this topic, I pulled out one of my favourite poems which had not got a look in anywhere and I knew the reason was because it contained more long sentences than Long Bay but what the hell I liked it like it was and so to prove the point to myself I rewrote some of the long winded bits and entered it into the Blackened Billy and I got a Highly Commended because if you are concerned about competitions, which I am not particularly, then you had better write to the formula and i am feeling a little light headed now so I better find a full stop.

See what you made me do Shelley Hansen.

Thank you to the Judge and Committee, Blackened Billy, Tamworth Poetry Reading Group.

Good on you Mal!!! I'll happily take the blame for that

Congratulations on your HC in this prestigious award!

Cheers
Shelley

Fantastic news Mal - warmest congratulations! Revive some more!

I read with interest Shelley's statement about a judge/forum member making a comment but then not following it up with an example. Too often people post poetry and family and friends come in and say all the nice things - you all know what I mean, when in truth the poem is probably bloody terrible . This then gives false expectations of their work with little real 'meat' to work on to improve.

Recently I made a fairly straight to the point remark re this, to a poet who submitted work to me, along with as much encouragement as I could muster for the submitted work, and then afterwards felt horrible, thinking I had been too hard. Lo and behold I was surprised and delighted to get this reply.

I really felt honoured to read your mail and I really mean it. I would like to thank you for being patient enough to analyse my work which hardly anybody bothered to do so far. Trust me, I respect and value the points put forth and I find them extremely fair. Especially, the poems I wrote during my school days which had the usage of archaic words. I wrote them as a part of my English assignment and I was more focussed to include the words which I was not used to. Later, as years passed by, I understood that the beauty of a poem doesn't lie in its complexity, but how simply it gets immersed in the reader's mind. I always encountered 'likes' and 'comments' cheering my work. What I missed was a response like your yours, which when adhered, I can definitely improve.

So perhaps we shouldn't second guess ourselves but go with our 'gut' as people have suggested here - after all I think most of us on this site are well aware what is good and what is mediocre because we are poets. Horses for courses, I wouldn't take the advice of a baker on a plumbing issue so why take the advice of well meaning friends and family on your poetry.

Good points Maureen, and I recently had a similar experience with a novice poet who asked me for a critique. I prefaced my remarks to her by saying I had received similar advice when starting out, and it helped me to refine my poetry and lift its standard.

However, I'm sure you'll agree that a private critique differs from feedback to an open forum, where we should choose our critical words with care, lest we cause embarrassment and hinder a poet's progress.

When you write for family occasions and such things you are always going to get accolades, especially from the people who feel famous by being named in your poem, even if it is doggerel!

Cheers, Shelley