What happened with poetry?

[Magpie]

What happened with poetry? Is poetry dead or is critique dead?

When I first joined this site nearly nine years ago it was electric, buzzing with poetry of all standards getting posted regularly in all forums and it was where i learnt what poetry was and more importantly what poetry wasn't. There were loads of people who were willing to impart knowledge and advice and help others become better poets.

I love this site and i'm not questioning it whatsoever, more so that i'm wondering whether the world has the appetite for poetry anymore or even perhaps whether the world has the appetite to critique poetry. It's a shame, this is where i learnt to critique and was one of the only places on the net where critique was mandatory.

I don't check anymore but i presume that blog world is no longer obsessed with 5-7-5...

I lost my train of thought, 

first it was the blues section in the music shop shrinking then the poetry section in the bookshop shrinking... help

any thoughts anyone

mark (mildly sad, but not overly so)

[Tiger the Lion]

What happened with poetry? Is poetry dead or is critique dead?

When I first joined this site nearly nine years ago it was electric, buzzing with poetry of all standards getting posted regularly in all forums and it was where i learnt what poetry was and more importantly what poetry wasn't. There were loads of people who were willing to impart knowledge and advice and help others become better poets.

I love this site and i'm not questioning it whatsoever, more so that i'm wondering whether the world has the appetite for poetry anymore or even perhaps whether the world has the appetite to critique poetry. It's a shame, this is where i learnt to critique and was one of the only places on the net where critique was mandatory.

I don't check anymore but i presume that blog world is no longer obsessed with 5-7-5...

I lost my train of thought, 

first it was the blues section in the music shop shrinking then the poetry section in the bookshop shrinking... help

any thoughts anyone

mark (mildly sad, but not overly so)

Mark, if it cheers you up at all, you were one of the ones who helped to transform my short pieces into something that resembled poetry. You and Ray and Dale. We're still in a slow rebuild after some devastating losses, but I for one am thrilled to have you back. 
Paul

[TranquillityBase]

Blame Putin 

I joined PP in January of 2021.  I've heard tales of better times, but I've seen some fairly active periods since I joined.  Also some very quiet times and one seems to have begun around the time the Russian invasion of Ukraine started.  No idea if that is really the cause, or if it's early spring time's bitter delights, or Daylight Savings Time, or a weird PP virus.  It does seem like you appeared (or re-appeared) about the time the Quiet came along.  

Please keep checking in.  My few discussions with you have been fruitful.  I think it's just a lull.

Tim

[Semicircle]

Poetry doesn't exist without critique. If one half of the siamese twin dies than the other is sure to follow.
As for poetry being dead, It sure would be a sad day when all of us stopped collectively thinking.

but god, it was by chance I found this site
and I feel very lucky to do so.

Before I was making really shit poems on Facebook
and all I would get is a thumbs up instead of somebody telling me
that my poetry sucked asshole,
but some random person told me about this forum
and now my poems suck less asshole.

My point is, I found this forum on Facebook
so maybe there is some hope in the world
after all.

[busker]

What happened with poetry? Is poetry dead or is critique dead?

When I first joined this site nearly nine years ago it was electric, buzzing with poetry of all standards getting posted regularly in all forums and it was where i learnt what poetry was and more importantly what poetry wasn't. There were loads of people who were willing to impart knowledge and advice and help others become better poets.

I love this site and i'm not questioning it whatsoever, more so that i'm wondering whether the world has the appetite for poetry anymore or even perhaps whether the world has the appetite to critique poetry. It's a shame, this is where i learnt to critique and was one of the only places on the net where critique was mandatory.

I don't check anymore but i presume that blog world is no longer obsessed with 5-7-5...

I lost my train of thought, 

first it was the blues section in the music shop shrinking then the poetry section in the bookshop shrinking... help

any thoughts anyone

mark (mildly sad, but not overly so)

When I joined this site, quite a few years ago, there were many more active members.
Ray, ella, billy, leanne, mercedes, tectak, milo, todd, in addition to tiger, rivernotch, you, etc.
Too many core members have died or just gone away. Someone like leanne was central to the development of the site, but it's difficult to find a replacement for someone like that.

Still, you'd argue, surely there are enough new poets out there, and the world of online poetry should be buzzing?
I don't think so.

I subscribe to a few poetry feeds on instagram. For novice poets looking for an audience, instagram is more convenient than accessing this site on a browser on their mobile.

For me, this site feels like home. I post from time to time, and offer crit from time to time. But I do miss the buzz from the early days.

[RiverNotch]

gosh, instagram

yeah, apparently it's easier to reach an audience in instagram or twitter, but that's more of what folks seem to look for in general -- an audience, rather than development. i don't intend to get instagram or twitter anytime soon, though, so i'm stuck here xD

mainly what busker said. although the big bookstores here don't really have poetry sections, and in general i see people read prose way more than they do poetry. i'm kinda divided on what this means: the romantic in me continues to find that the millennia-old art of poetry is dying, but the optimist, who is the me that's more often *me* anyway, looks at genius.com and thinks that poetry now is mostly just pop. not that genius is a very good site, but it's not unusual for the majority of critics and poets in their respective ages to be terrible.

it's probably both, leaning more towards the latter. my hypothesis is poetry lost a good chunk of itself with the advent of the novel -- few people, myself included, seem to have to *push* through epic poetry when reading them, as it's a genre whose exemplars we're no longer made to read in their entirety at ages younger than college. the best a solid narrative pop album tends to approach is a verse novel, with a favourite example of mine, and one that i'm sure folks here have already appreciated, is Kae Tempest's "Everybody Down".

[busker]

It’s not just a case of vanity poets using Instagram though
People don’t access the net via a computer anymore. It’s all through the phone
And firing up safari, navigating to a site etc face more inertia than simply opening an app.
Vbulletin boards haven’t evolved to have the right mobile friendly interface

[Magpie]

Thanks to all replies, some very good points. I suppose i never considered the impact of technology on poetry and the way that people access sites these days. I don't have a smart phone so am not part of that world.

I don't ever think that poetry is dying but it seemed that the appetite is slowly dwindling, i was on the blog world for a while and some people are posting more than a poem a day so there is definitely poetry being written it's just not finding it's way to sites like this. There was a while where the world was obsessed with writing what they called 'haiku' but even that phase seems to have died down.

These things come in phases... i hope.

[dukealien]

Must agree with the technology point in part. Typing on phone today and it's miserable compared to desk machine. But new contributors and critics of quality are coming up - keep the faith and carry on!

[busker]

I don't have a smart phone so am not part of that world.

Egad!!!! Does the church know of this???!!!

[Tiger the Lion]

Discussions like this make moderators out of all you guys. It's a huge help to get your insights and very much appreciated. I'm so useless with a smartphone that I can only navigate the most basic functions of the site without accidentally purchasing a stuffed penguin on Amazon or sending a dirty text to my boss.    But I honestly thought I was the only one who wasn't a wizard on the damn things. It never occurred to me that a huge percentage of our audience are in the same boat. So, thanks for waking me up to that.
Feel free to PM me anytime with ideas, suggestions or observations. They're invaluable.
And thanks to Mark, for asking the tough questions.

[Mark A Becker]

Hey other Mark- you asked:
Is poetry dead or is critique dead?

Poetry lives by the effort put into it, much like everthing else.  It's always transforming, so we search for combinations of words- how they look, and sound together.  I'm afraid that the ever present "social" world has created distractions that make it easier to avoid our true selves (and others', me included).

Critique takes more respect, which is why it seems to be on life support at times. For many, it's just easier to write, and harder to critique. That said, it's vastly more important to offer critique.  It's the only way that sincere poets can appreciate/evaluate their own skills, or lack thereof (selfishness is always part of it).

If you actually need poetry, take it seriously.  And if it's important for you, you will feel the kinship that enables you to provide sincere critique.  Otherwise, go for a "like", and go take a hike. Clear your mind. Walk it off.  Come back and embrace your brothers and sisters.  With respect, and intent, or why bother?

Life is a conversation: sometimes we talk, sometimes we listen.  Hopefully, as we're doing so, we're thinking...

...another Mark

[The Karate Kid Part 2]

Poetry is never dead. It depends what you want from it. If you want to be a famous poet, you've probably missed the boat. Or at least the boat won't come back round till you're a hundred years dead. And even then, who wants to be instagram famous on some documentary on Netflix a million years after you're done caring? Poetry is art. It has nothing to do with you.

[rowens]

Have you noticed that famous poets never post on poetry sites?

[The Karate Kid Part 2]

Have you noticed that famous poets never post on poetry sites?

[rowens]

Name twenty famous poets.

[Semicircle]

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/...HcrXKL.jpg

This is worth 20 poets.

[rowens]

Time goes by way too slow when you're drinking. It feels like tomorrow.

A Donald Trump meme signals the dying squirts of a dry thread.

I have one beer left. One beer is like one breath left on a Friday evening, and no ride up the road.

So I'm going to say this while it's in my mind:


The argument being made is that poetry isn't as glamourous as it once was.
That people aren't as interested in it or aren't as able to appreciate it.
The argument isn't that poetry is worse. 
And the argument isn't that people are less able to be interested in or to appreciate poetry.
Is it? 

Really there's no argument at all.
Is it?

I type fast when I'm not thinking.

[Semicircle]

Time goes by way too slow when you're drinking. It feels like tomorrow.

A Donald Trump meme signals the dying squirts of a dry thread.

I have one beer left. One beer is like one breath left on a Friday evening, and no ride up the road.   

So I'm going to say this while it's in my mind:


The argument being made is that poetry isn't as glamourous as it once was.
That people aren't as interested in it or aren't as able to appreciate it.
The argument isn't that poetry is worse. 
And the argument isn't that people are less able to be interested in or to appreciate poetry.
Is it? 

Really there's no argument at all.
Is it?

I type fast when I'm not thinking.

Donald Trump understands you.

[rowens]

Donald Trump is like so sicks years ago.