07-03-2016, 12:58 PM
(07-03-2016, 08:21 AM)Weeded Wrote: To which I wonder... what is the point of poetry? Is it to express that which is in one's mind/soul, is it to inspire thoughts and ideas in others, is it to change the world with words, or is it to please/impress others with the use of learned tools/techniques?
those questions are all very well and good as a mental exercise in the wee small hours when you can't sleep. but i wouldn't spend too much time on them. they could end up stopping you in your tracks. i think all creative people are working slightly off centre, not quite synced with practical reality, which is a good thing. once you start asking yourself why am i writing these odd little things that hardly anyone reads and even fewer people actually appreciate or like, you'll find yourself falling down a big black hole of meaninglessness. . . well, maybe not that dramatic. but, and i hate to break it to anyone who's new to writing poetry, it is a thankless hobby [yep, i said hobby] and 99.9% of everyone who has ever written a poem or even had aspirations of being a recognized poet will live and die entirely unacknowledged. the other 0.1% is shakespeare [yep, and he was a fucking playwright]. so, you're not going to change the world with words and you most certainly aren't going to impress anyone [nope, you can't even poem a woman into bed with you anymore - although, you play guitar, and that'll do it]. we're all like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the hill and it falling back down again, and as Camus suggested, all we can do is recognise the absurdity of it all and be determined to carry on regardless. . . or am i thinking of monopoly? :/