Posted by Tamar on March 4, 2006, at 20:17:11
In reply to Need a New Posting Name, posted by Poet on February 28, 2006, at 16:20:39
I haven't read this whole thread yet... I'm really pushed for time...
However, I hear your disappointment and I'm sad for you. Maybe the judges in the competition were looking for something very specific and it just wasn't what you entered in the competition.
Poetry is a very subjective thing and the work that blows one person away may leave another cold. For example, I still don't understand all the fuss about Wordsworth, but I love Primo Levi and Erich Fried. I don't think you should question your vocation as a poet just because of this competition... There will be others.
Being a writer involves a lot of rejection. All the most well known writers have stories about rejection which they still feel bitter about years later. It's hard to separate the rejection of your work from the idea of a personal rejection, especially when your work is poetry. I can imagine that it feels as though your very soul is being invalidated. In poetry we pour our whole feelings and experience into our work and if people don't appreciate it, we can feel terribly misunderstood and unloved. But you are loved; you are a talented and interesting person and your work is very worthwhile, despite the lack of attention of some people who didn't appreciate your work properly
FWIW, I love your original and imagiative use of language.
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:614341
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060303/msgs/615994.html