review

when I review a poem i'm having a conversation with myself.

i will bring up personal experiences from my own awful life,

interspersed with the heartfelt  story your telling me. i'm not doing

this to make the poem, your poem, anyone's poem, about me or

to take away from your own experience. Actually, what i'm attempting to

do is try to show you that I do understand what your trying to tell me and

that i've laid on my side with the dim light on my nightstand

with a lamp you have to twist three times before it lights

and even then it may not,

giving your poem my full attention.

i know. it can really be off putting to some people. so if i've

ever done this to you during a review I just wanted to make sure

you know that I wasn't trying to take over your poem. But rather

I didn't have anyone else to talk to and I wanted to connect

somehow with another soul.

Reviews

[Gee]

Last couple of lines made me feel sad for you, probably not what you'd want, but the thought of anybody feeling lonely in this mad, overcrowded world is s****y.
Only those that feel precious about their work would see you as a poem hijacker :))
Hope you are keeping well

[SkinlessFrank]

Sometimes when I wake up feeling like I can't muster up the strength to get up and face another time, I turn this poetry....there's grandeur in this view of life (apologies to C. Darwin)

[Paul Bell]

I like the idea of somebody jumping into my poem, shows endeavour.
If a poem can relate to something in your life, fantastic, it shows a common bond and brings validity to the poem.

[h d e rushin]

you're right, of course. But poetry is not just an open book, it's standing outside in the mud but naked in the rain. It suspends time in it's own futurity and inevitability. In other words, my vision is never someone else's. My vision is the other sock I could not find, or the whereabouts of the remote control. What I cant do is to
pretend to be engaged with the abstract. But if someone tells me by writing a poem about love, to love..I love
unceasingly ....thanks...dana

[Zeitgeist Manifesto]

wow. Its like you've invited us into your world, your mind...your heart and given us everything. It's strange but these kinds of reviews can help us learn about ourselves. So...that human connection is a strength. Its a gift. Some poetry comes from being afraid that no one will ever understand us. That review sometimes curbs the feeling of insanity. It lets people know that they are not alone. It is you. Unapologetically Dana. That's part of your charm. Those reviews are the best. It's not like you are snatching mics and telling people that you're gonna let them finish. lol. Seriously. Don't change. There's nothing wrong with your reviews.

[John the Baptist]

With an earnest desire to connect and having to deal with that lamp, I don't think you need to apologize to anyone. Everyone should have such a reviewer.

[h d e rushin]

I was told, more than once, that I talk too much. Which is true. But in my defense, I read then re-read , then read a third time a poem that interests me. Because there hasn't been a single poem ever written where I don't see myself. Not my future or my past, not my agreements or my dislikes according to my own will to survive. But the indefinite future time, naked me whose nose bleeds when I laugh too long. ...thanks love...dana

[Emily B]

I do the same thing, friend. I feel like we're having an ongoing conversation. Picking up wherever we left off. You pour the coffee. I get the cream. When I write, if I write, I won't to know that my words touch that place in your heart. That for a moment we are somewhat less alone in this awful world. When I get those conversations in a review, then I know that I wrote something I can be proud of.

[h d e rushin]

But it does and it always does. I remember how my grandma use to make clothes by the patterns that was in her head for children who were constantly getting bigger. You have to adjust to someone else's understand of even the superficial things you cant and wont believe in a million years. Which is the point. If the treasure of poetry is just it's jewels, then it can't be shared equally. Just hidden under large stones in the woods. But if words are suspended things of the infinitive unexpressed, as a reviewer of someone else's work, I am still safe.... love dana

[Emily B]

So very glad to find your words. Every single time

[barleygirl]

I'm surprised by this, becuz it implies some may object to reviews where the reader relates to the writing by sharing one's own personal experiences. Isn't that what we do here? I have never had anyone suggest this isn't a good thing. The reason I post my writing here in a friendly community instead of trying to sell it -- this personal sharing you describe is worth WAY more than money to me. I love the way readers share how a piece of writing expresses something they've experienced! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[h d e rushin]

I agree totally.

[Beccy]

The ability to relate, both as a poet and a reader of poetry, is vital. So often, I immerse myself entirely in a poem; try to see as best I can what was in the writer's mind; though often, the articulation of my thoughts do not come as easily as they ought.

You never take over, you enlighten.

Beccy. X

[h d e rushin]

It's like listening to a record of someone you've never heard sing some familiar song in another language. Poetry is the only art form that puts the reader on guard like this 25 year old stove (in pristine condition) I bought from an old woman that has a red light that says "Hot". So I am more frightened of it, than warned by it. And it puts in jeopardy the parts of you that is futile or a survivor of something catastrophic; how does the odd person laying on their side in the dark being emptied out of filled up with formality and words make sense of what someone else thinks of the world? It's still hard....love dana

[h d e rushin]

I love your words dear Gee. thanks and yes, I am keeping well. Social distanced and all....dana