Apr 21 2009
Random Rant
I glance around my room, and I say to myself, “how is one expected to compose flawless verse, while surrounded by futile routine?”
A thought comes to my mind, and why does it matter? People don’t understand flawless verse, anyways. As I watch that thought appearing as my fingertips bounce off the keys of my laptop, I begin to truly realize the validity of it. What makes a poem worth publishing? I can hear people from my writing class, rage on their faces and ignorance in their hearts, “it’s about how much someone loves what they are doing! It is art, and all art can be appreciated and should be published!” They are wrong. I hear many of my readers, “it is about which poem brings about the most emotional stimulation.” Again, incorrect.
What makes a poem published is the difference between appearance versus reality. It is the underlying meanings which maybe 2% of the population can understand. It is realizing that when a poet uses masculine rhymes throughout the course of their poem, and notes that one word which directly connects to the meaning of the poem is a feminine rhyme,and realizing the powerful impact that has on the meaning. It is the realization that it is ironic, because the one word which should be stressed is not, and that there are several meanings which can be drawn from that. It is understanding that a poem is composed of iambic tetrameter, and the switch in the third stanza to pentameter is meant to change the flow of the poem and possibly separate the two ideas. It is the difference between what can be read on the surface, and what lies beneath. And the ignorant laugh at this, thinking that it’s simply people looking too deeply into the meaning… But they are wrong.
It reminds me of people. A poem is like a person, no matter what appearance they put off, character is judged by what is unseen rather than seen.
I could post a total and complete masterpiece (not to say I have the ability), and it wouldn’t matter. The majority of people would not be able to tell the difference.
I believe that even your random rants are beautiful, like you.
I could be forever entrapped in the beauty of your mind.
I agree with you that a masterpiece is such, but a just plain poem is thoughts and words meshed together to make a picture in someone’s mind. I enjoy reading just about anything that makes me feel something, and even though I know that that’s not what it’s all about, it does make sense because people like being able to see what the writer is talking about in their head and see parts of the author in themselves. I don’t know… but it seems to me as if beauty is in the eye of the beholder.