HAWordsmith

HAWordsmith: You know your muse has left you for the evening when you are scrolling the buttons at the top of this page and zoning out on the blue waves...

HAWordsmith: My reviews: please take them with cum grano salis (a grain of salt).

1. My words to you are not the end all of end all, and truly matter little in the grand scheme of things.

2. I will tell you, honestly and openly, how your work affects ME, what changes can be made to more affect ME, SPAG errors, inconsistencies, incongruities, etc.

3. Please remember that I am but one reader with different tastes, life experiences, thoughts, opinions, etc.

4. You cannot argue with me to change my mind. (You can explain something to me that I may not understand, but that is not going to guarantee a change in your rating.)

5. If I think the writing is trite or fodder for greeting cards, again this is simply my opinion. If you do not believe so, please see #4, then #1 above. (Simply ignore my opinion and move on)

6. I am not going to downgrade you for concepts I do not get. If all the elements of a good poem are there, I can still appreciate the construction and flow of the language without grasping the concept.

7. I will not downgrade for SPAG errors unless they are so overwhelming as to affect the reading experience. Otherwise I will simply point them out.

8. My reviews are not a personal attack. I do not know you, therefor cannot be. I am commenting on that which I read and how it presents to ME.

9. Above all, remember #1.

No matter what your writing style, whether or not I think it is good or bad, I appreciate that you are here learning with me; and taking that brave step into the world of writing.

HAWordsmith: Since this site is about words, I thought I would share with you one of my favorite things...anagrams. Below are some of the most clever anagrams that I have come across, to date. Enjoy!

DORMITORY = DIRTY ROOM
PRESBYTERIAN = BEST IN PRAYER
ASTRONOMER = MOON STARER
DESPERATION = A ROPE ENDS IT
THE EYES = THEY SEE
GEORGE BUSH = HE BUGS GORE
MORSE CODE = HERE COME DOTS
SLOT MACHINES = CASH LOST IN ME
ANIMOSITY = IS NO AMITY
ELECTION RESULTS = LIES! LET'S RECOUNT
MOTHER IN-LAW = WOMAN HITLER
SNOOZE ALARMS = ALAS! NO MORE Z'S
DECIMAL POINT = I'M A DOT IN PLACE
THE EARTHQUAKES = THAT QUEER SHAKE
ELEVEN PLUS TWO = TWELVE PLUS ONE
PRESIDENT CLINTON OF THE USA = TO COPULATE, HE FINDS INTERNS

HAWordsmith: FLIPPIN' ANGRY...

In my journey to learn of the poetic word and mind, I have found that poems are usually written with a specific audience in mind. If you read and immediately understand, then you were its 'intended' audience. But that does not mean that you have to be the intended. Only that, if you truly want to enjoy the word, the imagery, possibly the message, or the game of mind, you must be, at least in some small way, willing to do what it takes to become the intended... to research, to ask, to step into another's shoes... I can only hope that you are not an obsessive compulsive about wearing another's shoes because poetry can definitely delve into dirty minds!

LMAO (yeah... I came across a poet that wrote about some very "dicey" things). I was fascinated though as I stepped into his shoes, and took a walk. Poetry is about seeing things through others' eyes, and if it is really good, you will feel it.

I have said before, that I have only just begun writing poetry. I now believe, with the little that I have learned thus far, that it has always been a part of my life. That somehow, my mother had taught me to live in it. A poetic life... always able to slip easily into others' shoes... and I will forever remember the day that changed me. That, however, is another poem, another day.


A Song for Simeon, by T.S.Eliot


"Lord, the Roman hyacinths are blooming in bowl

and

The winter sun creeps by the snow hills;

The stubborn season has made stand.

My life is light, waiting for the death wind,

Like a feather on the back of my hand.

Dust in sunlight and memory in corners

Wait for the wind that chills towards the dead land."


The assumptions of the poetic mind here being:

1) that I am going to know who Simeon is, or that I will be willing to find out.
2) that I am an experienced reader, or that I am willing to obtain what it takes to read it.
3) that I will, as the intended, understand the allusions, or will investigate them.
a. such as: Why is it important, to the author, that the hyacinths are Roman?
b. Why are they in a bowl?

(The beauty of the words lay in the juxtaposition of dust and memories, old age and Winter, death coming on a wind, etc., and they come to life when I understand)

4) that whoever is reading, will recognize it as poetry and understand that not all is as it seems.
5) that the reader will see the stanzas and appreciate the creation thereof.
6) that they will notice that every line rhymes, or that every other one does, or that maybe none at all, or somewhere in the middle of...
7) but the biggest assumption of the poet, the broadest desire, the hope, is that the reader will feel, engaging not only their mind, but their emotions and imagination.

Just as the above poem conjures an image of my friend "i". An old man (though I do not believe so, but he does), tired of life (and not in the sense of life itself, he loves life), but still hanging on, waiting... waiting for some crucial event, some validation, something magnificent to happen.

I am glad that my journey in life has brought me to this place. I am glad to see things through a poets eyes... the perspective is much deeper, the colors more vivid, the emotions more vital, and life is so much larger now.

This is what brings me to a review I received for my poem "A Summer's Fall". The review is included below. Based upon what I have written above, I am sure you will understand why I consider this review the antithesis of everything poetry is, everything this site is about, and will no more than have considered it here (review below):

"Poetry is in the ear of the beholder. (Just like beauty) You will probably get some 5/s for this poem. It has several attributes I like in a poem; namely rhyming, flow, structure, and ending. I give you one demerit on the meter. Meter is a subjective matter I admit. If I were to rewrite (edit) your poem (which I have not been so requested) I would do it thusly. (How's that for an oxymoron.)

Roots deep in soil, far under ground
In a wild garden, untouched and unfound
Growing soft mossy like sacred prayer beads
Snapdragons with honey and sweet summer meads

As blue bells ring out the summer's last dirge
The cattails give warning, fall's on the verge
The Crocus wails loudly in a futile attempt
As birds sweep the garden, a garden unkept

The autumn arrives with its diminishing light
Flowers bow their heads paying homage this night
Summer is gone with a strong fall wind
A wind from which, the winter will rescind

What I did, essentially, was just to redact syllables to make the flow smoother."

PS If you would like to see a copy of my reply to this person, feel free to ask.

HAWordsmith: My reviews: please take with cum grano salis (a grain of salt).

1. My words to you are not the end all of end all, and truly matter little in the grand scheme of things.

2. I will tell you, honestly and openly, how your work affects ME, what changes can be made to more affect ME, SPAG errors, inconsistencies, incongruities, etc.

3. Please remember that I am but one reader with different tastes, life experiences, thoughts, opinions, etc.

4. You cannot argue with me to change my mind. (You can explain something to me that I may not understand, but that is not going to guarantee a change in your rating.)

5. If I think the writing is trite or fodder for greeting cards, again this is simply my opinion. If you do not believe so, please see #4 above. (simply ignore my opinion and move on)

6. I am not going to downgrade you for concepts I do not get. If all the elements of a good poem are there, I can still appreciate the construction and flow of the language without grasping the concept.

7. I will not downgrade for SPAG errors unless they are so overwhelming as to affect the reading experience. Otherwise I will simply point them out.

8. My reviews are not a personal attack. I do not know you, therefor cannot be. I am commenting on that which I read and how it presents to ME.

9. Above all, remember #1.

No matter what your writing style, whether or not I think it is good or bad, I appreciate that you are here learning with me; and taking that brave step into the world of writing.