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K Mar 2016
At the end of the day, they will look for the worst version of you.
Good actions will be overlooked, and you will be taken for granted.
They will dig your soul for whatever it is they consider as dirt.
They will make you feel as if there is something wrong with you.
And you—you ask yourself what should be done.

You have not one, but two options.
Either you fight and go against the current,
Or become a slave of their judgments.

If you fight, expect that there will be more coming;
every stench of your soul will be revealed
and they will not stop
until they have dragged you down

And if you become a slave of their judgments,
you might think you are in peace;
But contrary to this, you have a bigger enemy.
Yourself.
You are the master of your own self.
GM Feb 2016
Skin tingles
Blood boils
Life flashes
Burning midnight oil

Eyes twitching
Fingers scratching
Feet tapping
Tossing and turning

Pressure for perfection
Mind racing
Body pacing
Criticising every inch

Panic set
Calm exterior
Pressure
Pressure
Pressure
Of feeling inferior
Paul Butters Jan 2016
The very first thing a poet should do
Is throw that ego in the bin.
For being Great, or finding fame and fortune
Should hardly be your goal.

Just say whatever you have to say
With passionate heart and Voice.
Forget about Perfection
As all is relative:
And simply be Inspired.

Don’t be a slave to rigid forms:
Variety is the key.
Pulsing rhythms may match the heart
But missing beats have clout.

Be respectful to other poets at all times
And always return their praise, where you can.
Never criticise in a negative way:
Always be positive and supportive.

Keep out of inter-poet politics:
Such a waste of time!
Just write and write and write and write:
I simply cannot help it!

Paul Butters
Ego is the enemy of poetry!!!
katie Dec 2015
I need a teacher
to tell me that I'm great
at this writing thing
who will give me constructive criticism
and As
and gold stars or something

Or I at least need a teacher
to tell me that I'm terrible
and should revise
and demand more of myself
and hit the delete button
and do something else with my life

But now that I'm the teacher--
...how do I get better?
Homunculus Dec 2015
All my poems are
The same, aren't they?
"You're being lied to by a corrupt,
Imperialistic government,
Corporations own your soul,
We're destroying the planet's
Natural resources, making
It uninhabitable, to ourselves and
Driving other species to extinction,
Capitalism is unethical, and
It subverts the potential
For real democracy,
Yada yada yada yada
Blah blah blah"



Maybe I should write about
Something else, but what?

I like flowers,
Flowers are nice,
Especially orchids, but
Not those weird,
Smelly ones that grow
On Callery trees... no
Those things reek like
Stale **** and sour milk.
Ah, but who could deny
The pungent and delicate
Fragrance of a rose?
Someone with anosmia,
That's who.
What, you didn't
Stop to think about,
People with disabilities?
How incredibly
Inconsiderate!
What are you?
Some sort of
Overprivileged, straight,
White, cis male ableist?
*******, you ******,
You might as well
Be a fascist. I would
Tell you to go back
To **** Germany, but
HEY, NEWS FLASH,
It's 2015, buddy,
Grow up and join
Us adults here in
The real world.
Wait... where was
I going with this?
A healthy bit of self criticism can always be helpful.
I AM A WOMAN PROUD AND STRONG
MY HAIR IS BLACK AND LONG
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH MY SKIN
LIKE IT IS A BAD CURSE OR A HORRENDOUS SIN

IT IS AN INSULT TO ME
WHILE I AM LABELED TO BE
THE ONLY THING BLACK IS MY HAIR AMONG OTHERS
SO WHAT IS THE DEAL MY DARK BROWN SKINNED BROTHERS

WHY DO YOU YELL PROUDLY
GET CRUNK AND SCREAM LOUDLY
STOP RISING IN ANGER, BUT END UP PUTTING YOURSELF IN DANGER
WHILE OTHER ETHNICITIES SOMETIMES TREAT US LIKE STRANGERS

SOME RACES DO NOT WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE
SOME DARK BROWN PEOPLE WORK HARD AND GO TO COLLEGE
I DO NOT CONSIDER MYSELF BLACK AND THAT IS MY FACT
BUT WE ARE CALLED THAT BECAUSE OF HOW WE ACT
A POEM ABOUT VIEWS ON MY CULTURE OF HOW DARK BROWN PEOPLE AKA BLACK PEOPLE VIEW THEMSELVES AND OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS VIEW THEM.
Nigel Finn Nov 2015
Your performance is to poetry,
What an ****** is to *** -
Finding gems like yours
Makes me go "YES, YES, YES!"
George Krokos Jan 2014
The menu looked good but the service and ingredients were lousy
is it any wonder that people were getting up to leave in droves!
Their expectations were shatterred and diminished by one or two
who feigned knowledge of the main course, offerred little solace.

Instead they indulged and reveled in harsh antagonisms for their own sake
even to the point of evoking reactions that were uncalled for by themselves.
The question on everyone’s lips was: “how could one stay and survive?”
when the road ahead was being plagiarised and mocked by a corrupt academic
who had a way with words but didn’t have the knack to put them in decent verse.

It was quite evident that that person’s appetite did not extend beyond their own nose
and stomach so could not or would not even offer a compliment where one was due.
Cries of “what a ****** and what a pity!” were heard to resound across the table
by those who came and went on a daily and weekly basis in bewilderment thinking
there has got to be something better than this where the subject matter was concerned.
Then there was also the added hostility of being called a “***” by one with a name that sounded like
a woman’s in the middle of a useless argument fathered by the one who only sought self gratification
privately attempting to lure some or all newcomers to the table for a lashing at a place called PFFA.

Perhaps that was the initiation not undergone or ventured that aroused the harsh comments
to flow and continue unabated but we also get the strong impression that there is a need for
genuine inspiration and criticism that is constructive and not the opposite which has been
the case at the table for some time and whenever someone comes along who offers one or both
the onlookers there mumble amongst themselves or in private on how to get a piece of the cake
without much thought for the wellbeing of the newcomer who has been attacked by the aforesaid.

There were also present some very nicely groomed women who showered kind words and offered
encouraging comments with proper etiquette almost to the point of distraction and fellowship but
they also had their hands full trying to mitigate the onslought of the ones who were the aggressors.
At least these were the impressions which appear to have induced all those to want to either leave or stay and continue to savour any or no dessert in the form of moderation and understanding and have their voice heard in a congenial manner by one, some or all who came to dinner at Algonquin’s table.
--------------------------------
Good intentions are necessary in thought, word and deed by all those who use writing as a means for
expressing themselves in any forum where ideas flourish and are used to further inquiry and learning.
_________________­__
Private collection, written in October 2012.
Note: This is a satirical piece of writing, a prose poem if I may use the term, about my initial experiences on another website called Algonquin's Table. Although a small website as far as membership goes, it offers a broad spectrum of expression across several fields of creativity such as a poetry forum of course, prose, member art gallery (including photography), film & television discussion and review, poetic co-operation, 'wordworx', workshops, audio and music, etc. Most members are somewhat helpful offering genuine constructive criticism and some are not and it may be noted that there are quite a few who are in their sixties, seventies and beyond with strong views about the written language. Check it out.
RisingUp Oct 2015
She presses her bony back up against the wall and crouches into a ball.

The pain she feels inside is too horrible to hide.

Everyone can see it, she’s ashamed of how she looks.

But the illness wails on.

It tells her she’s not smart enough.

Not good enough to be loved.

You? You’re a sick freak, how could anyone like you?

You made a mistake? Now wallow in regret as it gnaws at your very core.

A year ago there certainly is nothing you wanted more.

Than to be a bit lighter, like those other girls.

Like the athletic girl you used to be.

No more sweets, no more food luxuries.

Perpetual restriction is the key.

At first, others commented on the body she attained.

Until she continued on and on, until barely anything remained.

Desperate for some help, she held on for dear life.

As her parents endlessly convinced her, in the future there’d be less strife.

She lived as a zombie for months and months on end.

Restriction, self hatred, and hopelessness, filled the thoughts in her head.

You ate a bit of dessert?  You broke your cardinal rule.

All you wanted is to lose some weight, but look at you, you fool.

Now she lives with the constant reminders, of the horror that occurred.

Her hair, thin and brittle, dry as straw.

Her skin, yellowed and bruised, scarred from the pain within.

Her all too thin appearance, makes her not want to be touched.

She fears intimacy, and letting others feel her cold hands.

Yet when she goes to eat, that demon is stuck on replay.

Remember how you hated yourself?  Don’t ***** up your intake.

A loss of control is a loss of self worth.  Which you barely have anyways.

Perfect your food intake and you can escape that dreadful regret.

You’re broken, so broken.

Yet out of the sobs and trembling, the girl utters a phrase

“My strength emanates from my cracks, which will cover them

and cure my haze”
Name Redacted Aug 2015
Why go to church and sing our lies? What good is the praise of a song obliged? Obliged to worship, to speak not cry, of the Son of God for whom death died?

And we go to church and sing these songs, but all we are, are sounding gongs. We pretend that we know right from wrong, wearing masks to hide our devil prongs.

And we think just our community gives us immunity, to be spiritual lepers but judge with impunity. We speak of witness but we shun opportunity, and we fail brothers and God in our mission for unity.

See, that's a church that has no Christ: just makeup on the face of vice, a place where we curse in silver tongues and then play nice, acting lions when we should be mice.

Because it’s the glory of God for which Christ died, a glorious God that we denied, yet from our throats were our own hands pried, just so in God we could confide. Just so in Christ we could abide.
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