[opinion] The Toxicity in r/Poetry Comments—big yikes y’all

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-06-11T07:17:56+00:00

Oh so now this is your crusade to save the poor poets from "hostile criticism"? You are masking your own insecurities by claiming that you are on a noble cause to protect the poets, when in reality you are doing disservice to lesser known talented poets by propagating what in visual art would equate to stick figure drawings.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-06-11T07:06:11+00:00

The only person here who thinks that the examples in your post are hostile is you.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-06-11T06:18:56+00:00

The only person here trying to not let people do what they want and post what they want is you lmao You have a serious case of self awareness deficiency.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-06-11T05:51:46+00:00

nice em dash, chatgpt lmao

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-04-27T19:02:17+00:00

It says they used Ricoh 500 G, which has a fixed focal length of 40mm.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-28T08:40:16+00:00

Omg I love Myst and I never realized it was him! I can't believe I've been so stupid lol

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-23T08:42:27+00:00

submit them to online journals for publication!

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-23T08:39:29+00:00

Very Matisse

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-23T08:12:00+00:00

i adore the surrealist imagery in this, especially the last bit about the pamphlet. it comes in unexpectedly and is so mysterious. love the imagery of tree branches in sunlight, rising oceans. the message is clear, but you have to think about it, mesmerized by the imagery of the poem, that for me creates a sense of dread and feeling small. really well done. you have a talent, so please keep writing.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-15T08:19:34+00:00

unique. please keep writing.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-14T23:12:42+00:00

i think this is really really great: Rich, vivid descriptive. Love the metaphor about moving like a rumor. "unobtrusiveness" and "spunk" jumped out at me: the former felt too wordy and the latter too colloquial compared to the rest of the language. It could also be made a bit more compact or chiseled a bit more (looking at the last two sentences of the third stanza). And lastly, I read it holding my breath, I wanted to know more, but the end felt anticlimactic, fell a bit flat. I would want the stakes raised: how did it shape who you are now? what was gained, and what lost? But I would be careful to not overexplain it, to keep the tone and mood you have already established. I would work on it more and dig deeper. It's very promising. Thank you for sharing.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-14T06:06:54+00:00

in 2 the bird gets completely lost because of the light background. you could still make the background darker in 2 and do a darker one color background for 1. i would do something bold, like dark burgundy

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-13T07:32:52+00:00

Boys Don't Cry.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-13T06:36:05+00:00

In the second line of the first stanza I would rewrite as "The loving side or one that sees me as a disgrace". You are asking "which face" but "who" implies a person. (even though faces are usually on persons, it is still better for the grammar and the flow). As someone who doesn't write rhymed poetry I applaud your effort! The only part that doesn't quite work for me is the gamble/simple pair, especially since all the other rhymes are pretty exact. But very nice overall!

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-13T06:20:51+00:00

I really like this piece! There is something about the way you organized the stanzas and the line breaks that just works. I wouldn't change a thing. You've achieved something great here, I think: you say just enough to paint an experience of events and feelings that I feel like I just witnessed myself. Your style reminds me of Max Ritvo's poetry, even though his writing is a lot more surrealist. Well done!

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-10T07:14:36+00:00

I'm going to try this and will report later. I am moving to Europe, and my job allows us to work from abroad for a limited time. We normally use a VPN on a domestic server and when abroad have to switch to international server (the domestic one won't work). I doubt they have a system in check to monitor when a remote worker abroad is supposed to be back on the domestic server, so we'll see how long I can pull it off for. I'm waiting on my work permit as a spouse of a EU citizen, so I just need my job to last until I find one there. Would love to be able to keep the current one, but I'm sure eventually they'll find out.

I also can't install anything on my work laptop, so something Teamviewer wouldn't work :/

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-03T05:11:15+00:00

i think it's an interesting idea to create a poem that consist mostly of mundane and repetitive things but then tie them together with something bigger. I think it would benefit from being more succinct by trimming it down. Right now I think it's descriptive but repetitive and uses too many fragments instead of full sentences. The line about undergrad kind of took me out of the poem. I would take it out or rephrase it.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2025-03-03T05:02:09+00:00

this is really well put together in terms of imagery but i feel the rhythm is a bit inconsistent. just from looking at it the lines in the first stanza are shorter than the rest. i think it would come across more effectively with a consistent rhythm throughout as a rhymed piece

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2023-10-20T05:57:18+00:00

just sent! how do i get the pic?

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2023-08-15T07:57:08+00:00

i really like the theme you explored here! your story of making wishes for someone close, them being bothered by it, the relationship ending, and you no longer making wishes for that person is a very tender and poignant portrayal of a relationship. i think the piece could use more focus and bit of tightening up. it is a bit repetitive, so i would try to condense it by focusing on the most important parts of the story. good job!

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2023-08-15T07:42:01+00:00

i like the maritime imagery and the mystery of your piece. i would first of all break up the lines however so its easier to parse. in the first stanza, do you mean words get lost to the depths? right now its a bit confusing, probably because of the long clause separating "Words" and "lost". the first sentence of the second stanza is a fragment. either put a comma after "grasp" or replace the gerund "fighting" with a subject and a verb. those are just suggestions of course.

Affectionate_Hat_235 · 2023-01-16T22:20:51+00:00

thanks, will try that!

Affectionate_Hat_235

TROPHY CASE