| Poetry is not only art; it is a craft.
It is a great deal more than either #1 or #2, but for the options you give, I'm definitely in #1. I sometimes give the people the critiques they request; however, I find myself needing to say the same things over and over again, and it is wearying.
Read more poetry by published poets, guys (preferably modern ones, circa 1950-2008) and learn how they do what they do. Most of what I see here is drama-queen opera (memememememeME!) and not poetry even in its worst, most hackneyed sense (which, unfortunately, is what our public schools still think "poetry" is, because that, in large part, is what they're teaching to the students on Y!A, if what I've seen here is any indication.) |