the real truth and the poetical truth

The internal logic of a poem is different from the life’s logic. Sometimes a poet says things that are different from his/her thoughts and feelings just because he/she pursues the very goal a poem can pursue. The priority of a poet is not to reveal life as it is, but rather to reveal the poetical nuances that life contains. That’s why sometimes a poet “lies”. That’s why sometimes a poet says not just true things, but rather credible ones. The goal is not to reveal the real truth but the poetical truth.

rhymes

A good question has been posted on Poetry Circle: "Why don't poems rhyme anymore?". I tryed to answer: "Poems do not rhyme anymore maybe because things themselves don't rhyme anymore." Just my answer... And I really belive in this...

poetry and honesty

A poem often loses its poetical effect because of the cliché contained; I mean that there is a difference between the effect of what we say in the real life and the effect of what we say in a poem. In the real life, a sentence like “I suffer very much!” can have an echo in the souls of the people around (which is perfect normal), but the same sentence in a poem is a very common cliché and breaks the poem. So it happens with some lines in some poems: “My life is a misery…”, “No one understood me…” Eventually, though the poet is honest in each word of the poem, poetry does not come. And that is mainly because poetry has nothing to do with honesty, but with authenticity; and this “authenticity” contains more than good and sincere feelings. It also assumes the long history of the poetry genre. In other words, as known, a poet needs to be careful not only with his/her feelings and moods, but at the same measure with all the other poets who had successively solved the difficult problem of originality and novelty before. In these terms, we could say that poetry is all the real feelings & emotions of the poet, indeed, but only when these "feelings & emotions" are filtered through his/her cultural acquisitions.

to be a critic when you are a poet

People generally do not like to be criticized, and I dare to say that the poets do not make an exception. This is somehow understandable from the very human viewpoint. What makes the difference is whether or not someone being criticized takes the critique (upon his/her work) personal. When you are just a literary critic, I mean when you write critique only, things are easier, as you do not compete for the poetry crown of laurels with anyone of those you criticize. When you are a poet and make also critique the situation changes. They will take your critique as a sign of envy. I have experienced that... That’s why I think it’s an act of courage to make critique on other poets’ work when you yourself are a poet. If a poet wants to improve his work and to learn, then he/she must face the critique. Without critique the literary life would be dead. Without critique we even would not be able to make the difference between a poem and a simple personal note in a diary.