you can critique all you want... opinions are good but poetry is from the heart.. so how do you truely critique anything cept spelling and even then..

Rock the F on... This is how it should be stated. lol.

the sun shone bright
it hurt my eyes
the lovers danced but it was a farce
the light disappeared into a bottomless void
where time is gone and gleaming eyes fade
young winds cackle laughing and fry the skin
of quiet children suddenly mute
from their incongruous outburst of humor
at serious attempts to give and share
which somehow come up short and seem
irresistibly funny
for an instant
but on second thought
are merely
pathetic and sad

*Delayed reaction*

That's all very dramatic and all, but those things themselves are not critiqued -- they may very well be the subjects of poetry, but the point of critique is to help poets' technique in structure, syntax, and the general presentation of that subject matter improve, so as to make poetry appeal not only to the poet himself/herself, but also to readers. If the only point of poetry is personal self-satisfaction, why share it with others?

Just saying.

petry shouldnt have to have structure,it should come from the heart.ever hear of free form?

Right. Free verse. Even free verse has certain rules, certain things to avoid (i.e. cliché, mechanical errors, etc.) and certain things that make it great (i.e. solid imagery, creative metaphors, etc.)

*Shrugs*

Anyone can impetuously churn out unstructured reams of text; that does not make it poetry and that does not make it great. Not saying my poetry is great or that I'm some prolific mind, but having read a lot of REALLY good and some really, really bad poetry, it seems some degree of discipline and thought and effort must be present to create a poem worth reading.

thank you for contributing this way to art, I think you stay true to your imagination.

jwaz

And then again, who is to say what art really is? There are those who find the water color paintings of an elephant "masterpieces" and some who call them merely waterpaints....you know?

Thank you for thinking that I in some way contribute.

True, art goes by different definitions. Yes, some slap one, solid color onto a canvas and call it art (Ellsworth Kelly, for instance), whilst others spend 7 years meticulously working on one painting (as with Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa").

Some have said one must know the rules in order to break/change/improve them, and I tend to agree.

I am very UNIQUE! I will always be me.
And for anyone to desire to critique me, should leave me be.
When we tell our children about love, should we tell them EACH STEP of that through our own explorations? Are predications?
Or allow them to FIND THEIR own FORM and desires to do and pry?
This world is filled with many who would love to rule, or try.
WE as humans here in this very vast world all have one thing.
OUR individuality. That "US". Our special little realilty.
Somethings grow on their own to be far greater than ever taught.
And we should ALL just be us and live free until we're caught.

How "deliciously" avant garde and free-thinking of you. =|

We all have our own opinions...that is what makes us interesting, yes?

True. Art creation and critique chiefly involves exchanging opinions, but there are also things solely objectively right and wrong about writing; and if one is to interfere with such things--to begin formulating new standards and rules--it helps to actually have some familiarity with what the original ones were.

Same goes with structure in poetry. There is much to be gained from writing with traditional structures: In part, an appreciation for other forms and a broader literary perspective.

In order to continue growth, one must breathe. This is a movement all encompassing even when movement is not visible to the naked soul's eye. "Physician, heal thyself". Writing offers a healing gift to both the reader and the expressionist. Am I the expression? Is the expression me? And reflection..

I'm with Den on this... couldn't have said it better.
In the end my poetry is for myself and if it helps others
then I am truly blessed.

I wouldnt mind a critic if he werent a critter

I wouldn't mind critique at all....It would certainly challenge me to grow....

Yet, as many have suggested, what is in my heart and Soul, as offered in poetic form, is my gift to self and others....

Hopefully it is accepted as such...If not, then it is not. So be it, one way or another

I think the overall consensus is that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

And if someone trashes your writing and you can't take it as constructive crticism then just remember the old sticks and stones saying.