Say "Hi" in this Thread

[rayheinrich]

With a name like that, you have a lot to live up to.
Welcome,
Ray

[Jeremiahcp]

I hope this is the right place to introduce myself. 

My name is Jeremiah and I love writing. I have always been a prose writer, and really had no interest in poetry. However, I started studying it to help grow my prose writing, and I have learned, that not only do I enjoy poetry, but that it is also a real boon to my fiction writing. I now feel that all prose writers should study poetry and all poets should study prose writing. So towards that end, I am making it a daily practice to engage in poetry. I have read the site rules, I can't promise I'll stick around, but I am gonna check it out and see what you all have going on here.

[ellajam]

Welcome Jeremiah, I agree, I have read prose chock full of poetry and understanding prose writing certainly helps a poet.

I hope you enjoy the site, the workshop threads where members have worked at editing are a great insight into how poetry works and there's a thread in Poetry discussion Poems You Love which has varied entries. Billy's also put together some fine collections of various poets.

If you haven't done the 3 critiques you need to become a member take a look at the Important Threads of Novice, it's not that hard.

[Pyrra]

Hello everyone,

my name is Lisa, I am from Austria and I love writing poetry. My mothertounge is German, but some of the poems I have written in or translated into English. I believe they have got something going for them (well, who doesn't think that to be case for their own words) but I am aware that I could do with some guidence, especially concerning grammar and tenses (the different past tenses are very hard for me to get right all the time).
I admit, the "3-critiques" rule is exceedingly hard for me to fulfill, as I do not see myself knowledgable enough for doing so. If anything in a poem should strike me as "odd", the chances are, this is down to me and not the author. But, I respect this "give-and-take" rule; I have been looking for a comunity critically looking at my poems, so I can gain from their experience and get better; and I guess I will have to do my best to give back what you ask for and find something still worth of writing, even if I lack any professionalism.

[ellajam]

Hi, Lisa, welcome to the Pen. Part of critiquing is pointing out what you like in a poem. If you write poems I'm sure you'll be able to find a metaphor or some sonics you like, just let the poet know, it's not that hard and that's all that's required in Novice. Just read the guidelines for each forum by clicking on its title and jump in.

If you'd like to read some critique tips you'll find them in the important threads of Novice. I hope you enjoy the site, ella

[rayheinrich]

I hope this is the right place to introduce myself. 

My name is Jeremiah and I love writing. I have always been a prose writer, and really had no interest in poetry. However, I started studying it to help grow my prose writing, and I have learned, that not only do I enjoy poetry, but that it is also a real boon to my fiction writing. I now feel that all prose writers should study poetry and all poets should study prose writing. So towards that end, I am making it a daily practice to engage in poetry. I have read the site rules, I can't promise I'll stick around, but I am gonna check it out and see what you all have going on here.

Owing to the fact that many of the same words are employed in both poetry and prose (we'll ignore the
order of their deployment for the moment), it does make great sense to study both. Though, and you can
take this as you might,  engaging in poetry as a daily practice will utterly ruin your ability to produce logically
coherant prose. I'd venture once a week as the absolute maximum.

That said, I see no reason to let that worry you in the slightest as prose is highly over-rated and the ability
to write it well ultimately leads to Stephen King novels. Am I disparaging his novels? No, of course not,
he's a wonderful writer. What I'm saying is that trying to compete with him will destroy your character.
No number of cold showers will ever be able to build it back.

A sincere welcome to you; may your desires complement your life,
Ray

Hello everyone,

my name is Lisa, I am from Austria and I love writing poetry. My mother tounge is German, but some of the poems I have written in or translated into English. I believe they have got something going for them (well, who doesn't think that to be case for their own words) but I am aware that I could do with some guidance, especially concerning grammar and tenses (the different past tenses are very hard for me to get right all the time).
I admit, the "3-critiques" rule is exceedingly hard for me to fulfill, as I do not see myself knowledgable enough for doing so. If anything in a poem should strike me as "odd", the chances are, this is down to me and not the author. But, I respect this "give-and-take" rule;  I have been looking for a community critically looking at my poems, so I can gain from their experience and get better; and I guess I will have to do my best to give back what you ask for and find something still worth of writing, even if I lack any professionalism.

Welcome Lisa!
And yes, any knowledge of German is certainly a disadvantage (as I can personally attest to) when
writing English poetry, as it biases one to a way of thinking (rational) that isn't prevalent in English.

That said, the freedom to not have some meaningless gender associated with every damn noun more
than makes up for the bizarrely formulated English tense forms. Besides, even native English speakers
get these wrong all the time, so you won't stand out that much.  

If you harbour even the slightest doubts about my sincerity, you're right.
But I am quite sincere in welcoming you to the PigPen.

Viel Spaß!
Ray

[billy]

welcome all

[Emz]

Good evening everyone

My name's Emma and I obviously write poetry. I am seeking a forum very much like this, as the forum I used to hang out at is no longer available.  

I hope to offer my genuine feedback on your poems and share some poetry of my own.  

Emma

[Eliazar.Perez]

Hi, I'm male. 32 yrs old, and have been writing for about two decades now. I hope I become a fresh new face around here.

[rayheinrich]

Good evening everyone

My name's Emma and I obviously write poetry. I am seeking a forum very much like this, as the forum I used to hang out at is no longer available.  

I hope to offer my genuine feedback on your poems and share some poetry of my own.  

Emma

At PigPen, anyone offering genuine feedback is the object of adulation.

I look forward to adulating you.

Welcome,
Ray

---

Hi, I'm male. 32 yrs old, and have been writing for about two decades now. I hope I become a fresh new face around here.

While fresh faces aren't predominant around here (either poetry causes wrinkles or what
causes poetry does), we do appreciate new ones, weathered or no.

Please feel free to provide wrinkle-inducing critique (as well as fresh poetry).

Welcome,
Ray

[Leanne]

Hello and welcome to all newcomers. After a few weeks of deleting constant "I like this poem" type posts, everyone on the mod board is delighted by the recent outbreak of thoughtful awesomeness in the critique forums.

Thank you, and please stick around.

[billy]

hopefully their loss will be our gain.


have you ever been adulated?  ray told me to ask. he's in adulating mode  ><

Good evening everyone

My name's Emma and I obviously write poetry. I am seeking a forum very much like this, as the forum I used to hang out at is no longer available.  

I hope to offer my genuine feedback on your poems and share some poetry of my own.  

Emma

[Emz]

Hey rayheinrich and billy,

Being adulated sounds fun, as long as I get to pretend I don't deserve it hehe

It's nice to meet you both!


Hey there Leanne,

I'm glad this forum offers thoughtful critique and it wouldn't be fair to offer anything less.

P.S. Wow, I like this poem. It really flows.

[rayheinrich]

Hey rayheinrich and billy,

Being adulated sounds fun, as long as I get to pretend I don't deserve it hehe

It's nice to meet you both!


Hey there Leanne,

I'm glad this forum offers thoughtful critique and it wouldn't be fair to offer anything less.

P.S. Wow, I like this poem. It really flows.

At PigPen, we are nothing if not all-encompassing.  Our breadth subsumes nothing less than the
ecumenically universalist pre, mid, and post menstrual aspects inherent in us all.

Let the adulation flow!
Ray

P.S. T.S. Eliot (may God have mercy on his soul for his hyper-religious swerve towards the end)
possessed one of my favorite ragingly complex megalodonic male egos. He thought western
civilization's and his contemporaneous crumblings were not unrelated.

(And all this without foreknowledge of Paris Hilton.)

[Emz]

Hey rayheinrich and billy,

Being adulated sounds fun, as long as I get to pretend I don't deserve it hehe

It's nice to meet you both!


Hey there Leanne,

I'm glad this forum offers thoughtful critique and it wouldn't be fair to offer anything less.

P.S. Wow, I like this poem. It really flows.

At PigPen, we are nothing if not all-encompassing.  Our breadth subsumes nothing less than the
ecumenically universalist pre, mid, and post menstrual aspects inherent in us all.

Let the adulation flow!
Ray

P.S. T.S. Eliot (may God have mercy on his soul for his hyper-religious swerve towards the end)
possessed one of my favorite ragingly complex megalodonic male egos. He thought western
civilization's and his contemporaneous crumblings were not unrelated.

(And all this without foreknowledge of Paris Hilton.)

I must admit, you (more than likely) understand The Wasteland much greater than I. 

I love the last half of the poem and it's melodic changes. There are also quite a bit of religious reference at the beginning of the poem (second stanza--the red rock part referring to Matthew verses, and obviously son of man being Jesus), and perhaps there a lot more religious references I haven't caught throughout the middle. I guess it does become hyper-religious towards the end though!

Maybe as I get older and reread the poem I will continue to have a greater understanding for it 

Emma

[rayheinrich]

... P.S. T.S. Eliot (may God have mercy on his soul for his hyper-religious swerve towards the end)
possessed one of my favorite ragingly complex megalodonic male egos. He thought western
civilization's and his contemporaneous crumblings were not unrelated.
(And all this without foreknowledge of Paris Hilton.)

I must admit, you (more than likely) understand The Wasteland much greater than I. 

I love the last half of the poem and it's melodic changes. There are also quite a bit of religious reference at the beginning of the poem (second stanza--the red rock part referring to Matthew verses, and obviously son of man being Jesus), and perhaps there a lot more religious references I haven't caught throughout the middle. I guess it does become hyper-religious towards the end though!

Maybe as I get older and reread the poem I will continue to have a greater understanding for it 

Emma

Sorry, I was just having too much fun to say anything reasonable. I admire Eliot and have grown
to understand him less (meaning I once thought I understood him more but have realized my conceit).
What I do take from him is his ability to infect me with his intellectual passion, to realize (at least for
myself) that reason, while essential, is never sufficient.  The religious reference, I should have been more clear,
was refering to the timeline of his life, not of the poem.  

I'm more of a Pablo Neruda / William Carlos Williams type; Eliot has always seemed foreign to me,
like a Norse god imbued with brains instead of muscles...

[Apache]

Hi everyone!

Decided to join this on a whim today. I've been writing all sorts of things, poetry included, on a semi-serious basis for several years now. I recently decided that the shoulder-high stack of journals and notebooks next to my couch is a waste of space if I don't make an effort to separate the wheat from the chaff with an eye towards publication at some point. I recently submitted some of my poems to a local literary journal in North Carolina, where I currently reside, but I decided that I liked the idea of having all of you fine, anonymous lads and lasses scrutinize some of my pieces more than I can on my own. So here I am! I will probably post something for review today or tomorrow; in the meantime I am going to try my hand at giving criticism/praise to some of the ones already posted.

[Emz]

Hi everyone!

Decided to join this on a whim today. I've been writing all sorts of things, poetry included, on a semi-serious basis for several years now. I recently decided that the shoulder-high stack of journals and notebooks next to my couch is a waste of space if I don't make an effort to separate the wheat from the chaff with an eye towards publication at some point. I recently submitted some of my poems to a local literary journal in North Carolina, where I currently reside, but I decided that I liked the idea of having all of you fine, anonymous lads and lasses scrutinize some of my pieces more than I can on my own. So here I am! I will probably post something for review today or tomorrow; in the meantime I am going to try my hand at giving criticism/praise to some of the ones already posted.

Welcome Apache! 

I look forward to reading your poetry

[Leanne]

Welcome, Apache. A few friends of mine are involved in the Kakalak/ Main Street Rag anthologies, which are for people from or writing about the Carolinas. They've done some very good work, so maybe workshop a few pieces and submit

[rayheinrich]

Hi everyone!

Decided to join this on a whim today. I've been writing all sorts of things, poetry included, on a semi-serious basis for several years now. I recently decided that the shoulder-high stack of journals and notebooks next to my couch is a waste of space if I don't make an effort to separate the wheat from the chaff with an eye towards publication at some point. I recently submitted some of my poems to a local literary journal in North Carolina, where I currently reside, but I decided that I liked the idea of having all of you fine, anonymous lads and lasses scrutinize some of my pieces more than I can on my own. So here I am! I will probably post something for review today or tomorrow; in the meantime I am going to try my hand at giving criticism/praise to some of the ones already posted.

The heart of the soul of the barest essence of poetic shenanigans is whimsy.
If it wasn't for whimsy, Adam and Eve would still be in Eden and the Tree of
Knowledge's sweet fruit would remain untasted. (The Tree of Life, by the way,
bears bitter fruit. Gods are tricksters, every damn one of them.)

Writing, if it is to be worthy of attention, must be written on a semi-serious (or semi-facetious) basis.
To do otherwise would be to commit ones intelect to the stasis (like heaven or hell) of eternal tedium.

The quest for publication is a fool's odyssey; but what the hell, why not?

"... but I decided that I liked the idea of having all of you fine, anonymous lads and lasses scrutinize some of my pieces ... "

This, actually, isn't a bad idea.

Welcome,
Ray

P.S. By the way, not all of us are anonymous. My name is Ray Heinrich and I reside in Baytown, Texas, USA.
My phone number and address are listed in numerous internet white pages. One of my email addresses
is ray@wordbiscuit.com ... and Google Earth retains an excellent photograph of my recyclables bin with
a gray tabby cat (the one pictured in my Avatar) sitting atop it.

The cat's full name is "Shiva the Destroyer of Ego".