Which is more important?

[milo]

I thought I made it abundantly clear that until you mentioned him, I didn't know who he was. I got the gist of what the rules were saying. That isn't the point. While the words themselves belong to Mr. Hammes, the intent behind the post belongs to you, and that is what I was responding to. The rules of Mr. Hammes are easy to figure out. What seems difficult to figure out is why some people are getting offended by a simple comment that I left regarding how I see things. These are my views, how *I* feel about poetry and the critiques received concerning them. Never once did I respond with arrogant, passive-aggressive, or tongue-in-cheek comments. Never once was there a caveat in my tone. It was a mere response, just like this one.
Nothing more. Nothing less.

The only thing that is abundantly clear is that you are immutably self-absorbed. Whatever imagined slight you believe to have received is irrelevant to me or this thread. What is relevant are naive, clueless statements like : Anything other than that and I feel I would either become lost or turn my poetry in to something that reflects the work of another instead of what lies in my heart, and if a poet loses his own voice to the noise of the crowd, what does that say of his craft other than that it no longer exists as something individual?" To which anyone can see the wisdom of mr. Hammes applies.

I am self-absorbed simply because I believe that the figurative voice of every poet is unique and individual? That's not narcissism. It is fact.
The voice of Shakespeare differed from that of Dickenson, and her voice differed from that of Frost. All of these individuals brought a unique essence to the poetic arts, as did the poets before them, and as will all poets that come thereafter. Because they followed the individual voice within themselves, they created beautiful works of literary art. That is what almost every poet does. We can learn a lot from those who guide us, but at the end of the day, the poems should echo the inner voice that lives within us, the individual person who writes the poetry. As I said before, I believe that it is good to be GUIDED by those before us, to find inspiration in their work and their insight, but EVERY poem from EVERY *individual* should reflect who they are inside. If Shakespeare of Dickenson~or even Mr. Hammes wrote their poetry SOLELY based on the critiques and opinions of others instead of using them simply as a guiding force, we would be robbed of the chance to know of their *true* work.

You are self-absorbed because you think this thread is all about you.