Bad poetry online and what we can do about it

We are in a crisis of poetry.

We don’t even know what it is anymore, actually. We don’t understand what makes good poetry good, and so we don’t know how to acknowledge it, enjoy it, or celebrate it. It is illegible to us, and indecipherable. And so it often dies—and the good writers along with it, in the varied ways this happens—artistic death, soul death, and yes, sometimes physical death by suicide or self-harm.

More than that, we don’t even understand that poetry (and good art generally), is merely the authentic human capturing of moments and eternity. Nature’s beauty, and love, and joy, are all what I will call “natural poetry.” An experience of awe and wonder is natural poetry. Deep, true laughter is natural poetry. That wonderful feeling right before you drift off to sleep is natural poetry.

But we rarely spend time in the delight of these things, and rarely allow ourselves the comfort of basking in the best kind of “wasted time” (A London poet, Sarah de Nordwall, says this often).

So the truth is actually that we haven’t just lost touch with poetry—in a funny way, we have lost touch with both reality and mystery. The closest we get, for the most part, is sentimental drivel masquerading as art, when really it is just thinly-veiled self-absorption and self-indulgence.

We should not encourage this. But as a culture, we do.

And it is debilitating us. We have no idea the effect it has on us all long-term to be deprived of the immaterial food of goodness and beauty and the excellent almost-capturing of glorious mystery that is good art. We shrivel up, wandering aimlessly, nearly dead but miserably alive, through T. S. Eliot’s “Waste Land”—and we don’t even know it.

One of the most disappointing things so far on Steem (and I absolutely love it here in nearly every other way, in case you don’t already know) is that bad poetry and art is still getting attention more than the good stuff (I’m not jealous or worried about my own work here—I’m brand new and hardly have anything of mine up just yet and don’t expect a stronger response for a while). It gets upvoted.. but it’s really not good.

I’m not angry. I’m not envious. But I am deeply sad, because of what it says about where we are culturally.

But while I want to mention that in order to challenge us here on Steem to be better, especially compared to the cheap popularity on other social media platforms, I don’t want to focus on the poor quality of others. They may do as they wish, and many will support them, no matter what I say. Instead, I propose we begin a radical, widespread education here on excellence in art and writing, so more of the good writers and artists will begin to thrive as well. Steem could literally be cutting edge in its sophisticated support of really good art. And as the platform grows, it could start to actually affect a world-wide culture on the arts. That would truly be a “grassroots movement” for the books. I know this is a big dream, but I believe it's possible.

This will take work, but I am committed to writing about it often on Steem. I really hope other serious writers and artists will join in on the conversation. Slowly and surely, we could use this platform to revive a capacity for real taste and appreciation of excellence and beauty in modern life. And trust me--it will do us much good.

Below is a link to some real poetry (don’t be lazy—fight for reality and meaning, friend! Click the link!) But you must know, before you embark on reading it, that real poetry demands something of you—humility and investment. You often only can receive by what you are willing to give. And you must be willing to receive it rather than grasp at it. You will likely need to re-read it, over the course of days, weeks, years to fully grasp its meaning (that is actually part of the delight).

The expectation here is entirely different from the instant gratification that is in many ways the defining mark of our times. We can be better. We can pause and take a little time for the things that are truly worth our time. It will take a firm decision and discipline, but we can do it.

Here is the link to e.e. cummings’ “anyone lived in a pretty how town.” Simple, wonderful, poetic perfection.

And thank you for reading, and for your ongoing support of both this conversation and my personal work. Every little bit makes such a difference for me as one of the “little” guys.

Xx, Kay

(All work on my Steem blog, in any presented form, is always copyrighted, so in your interests and mine, please use proper attribution.)