Nasty comments do not work for everyone. In fact it hardly works at all. To get rid of bad poetry on this site requires a lot of patience, encouragement and diplomacy – there is no other way. Nasty comments , even in a PUBLIC FORUM, are only a waste of the critic’s time and energy. It is true that not everyone is naturally suited for poetry, which makes it the more foolish for the critic to tell him off. A true genius will first look for the merits and avoid hurting other people because he knows what karma can do.

A true critic is finally a gentleman. I have learned a lot from both Peter and Buk and I want to learn as well from you, and I hate, absolutely hate what’s happening to this forum. Please let us shake hands and forgive each other like true gentlemen and…start over.
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From your comments about yourself you DO sound like an arrogant, egotistical & envious person.

A case of the nut thinking everyone else is nuts. I bet you think you can do no wrong! You are perfect or better than everyone else in the world, right? The other person is the one who lies, never you. Oh no!

You made your own bed, now lie in it! or read some self improvement books and be a better man.
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The people have spoken

will be back after a week from now and read every answer posted and decide if you are going to be my friend or my enemy now that the poetry people have spoken and you have heard

the least of them is a better poet than i am and out of respect for them i will leave for a week then come back and believe it or not if you change to a new respectable kind account may be i will find you and congratulate you for the better man you became….
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peace for now !

Edit: ( following the points you raised regarding my earlier answer).

I do not know what went on between Arwen and you. I have no knowledge whatsoever as I do not read everything on this site. All I know is that she said she left because of you and that came in the first instance, from a mutual colleague of ours.

The other point that I want to make is that on this page alone you have inferred that four women are liars.

I was educated and brought up in a background which offered encouragement and nurture to get the best out of people. I do not understand any other way. You have opposing views to mine. I also believe in telling the truth. You can tell someone their poetry isn’t any good without decimating them altogether and preventing them from even trying to improve. Also, poetry is subjective. I may feel something is actually quite pleasant and promising, when you feel it is crap. You do not appear to enjoy any free verse at all, preferring only rhyme and meter.

I am a mature woman in my 50’s with family. I know only too well how youngsters can react to put downs, it would be wrong to do this. (Note I have not accused you of it because I have not seen it with my own eyes). I was anxious when I first posted on this site and I don’t consider myself fragile. I was anxious about coming across the sort of put downs that you can give. If that had happened to me, I may not have bothered to have continued writing. I would not have known that I showed any promise (even you have acknowledged that)

Consideration of peoples feelings, cost nothing. I would by far prefer to be remembered as a person who encouraged someone to enjoy poetry than put them off it altogether.

As someone else mentioned further up, freedom of speech does not mean the freedom to abuse and create negativity. With it comes responsibility. That’s why you can’t call a black man a black b——–because it is a racist hateful remark and you would get pulled up for it. So when it boils down to it perhaps there is no such thing as complete freedom of speech because there are laws in place against racism, inciting racial hated etc.

We have very different views, but on this page thankfully are to express them.
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all opinons in my opinion draw a bridge
you have two options:

either cross it and join the observer on the other side
or stay where you are and respect the distance between.

I may be young but this is what I believe.
My opinion on this question.

I think the thumbs down actually confirm your observation.

lol……..some are opinions yet they receive multiple thumbs down.
as i will more than likely.

thanks for sharing.
i love a good question to get
the juices flowing in my mind,.
refreshing this i find.
wow that rhymed

EDIT: To Iano-explain to me..in your great wisdom..

aren’t two opinions like rams during mating season?
striving to win the heart of "right" yet the situation
that their opinions build their foundation on is still
of its own independent nature. It is not dependent
upon an opinion in order to maintain its subjective
validity. To me, I believe constructive criticism but
i also believe in no sugar-coating. meaning that i
won’t set someone up for complete failure by only
telling them what they want to hear but i am also
not going to berate them with full-blown negativity.

I give them a strong cup of sweet tea
and I also give them a package of salt
now it is up to them to decide whether they would
like to mix the salt in with the tea or
leave it as it is. They did not ask me for
the cup of tea yet as it is my prerogative
to fix them this cup of tea, sparing my own time
i can choose whether ultimately it is sweet
or if it is somewhat sour and grungy.
though the taste still is subjective to whoever
drinks from the cup am i right?

but what do i know.
i’m just a teenage boy.
im oblivious.

EDIT: wow this forum is epic lol..so many answers so many back and forth..when yahoo answers became a tennis court..wimbeldon doesn’t stand a chance.
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A great teacher does not beat his pupils on the head with books to try and teach them. He teaches with excellence, class, love, and propriety. Kindness always wins! It is all in the psychology you use.

This is why this "revolution" of sorts is taking place now. People got tired of being "taught" or "advised" the wrong way by you. You used all the wrong methods.

Perhaps this "tough love" or wrong psychology was used on you as a child, by ignorant parents or teachers, but it does not work on most people, and it is certainly not healthy nor productive in the end.

Accept defeat like a gentleman for once, and bow down and walk away gracefully, or at least offer some apologies. Take it as a lesson learned.

Much luck !
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Just adding: Arwen and others left because of the negative atmosphere you created here. YOU, were the one who from the beginning followed her poems around and anyone who commented positively on them and then left nasty comments not only on her, but on anything they wrote as well.

Who is the envious one?

Apparently you could not deal with the fact that so many were enjoying her romantic poems or positive outlook on life.

Yes, like many others in this place she was hoping to find something refreshing outside the world and impart help and encouragement to those who needed it. Not bring anyone down.

This is apparently something that is beyond your grasp. You are a sour person and it shows in your actions.

**As far as my personal comment to you. I never called you a Bas**ard. That was someone else. I called you a "wretched commoner". I stand by that. If that means the same to you, then so be it. You behave as one, you earn the title.
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A gentleman. A knight. A friend to Arwen. NO, I am not one of Golden Seaman’s accounts. I’ve never even corresponded with the man. This is my only account. We are obviously just both friends to Arwen and here to take a stand for those who have been ill treated in a section which should be something better. Arwen has never and will never bother herself to comment on anything you have to say. You are too negative. She has no room for that in her world.

She only wishes you peace, love, and enlightenment. That has been and always will be her message to the world.

However, regardless of anyone’s age, if they post a poem asking for people’s opinions on it – they need to learn to take the rough with the smooth. I’ve seen comments by kids to other kids’ poems that are far harsher then anything I could ever say. Most normal, well-balanced people have a sense of humour about those things – only the socially inadequate with fragile egos would get upset over the comments of a stranger.

If you only want to hear nice things about your efforts, show them to your family and friends. If you post and ask for an opinion, I’ll give you one. Honesty is the best compliment I can pay you.

Lori – you meant "inspiring", not "aspiring". I don’t believe it does anyone any good to encourage mediocrity by praising something when it is undeserving. If it’s mince, I’ll say it’s mince. And if you think that’s "nasty", you need to grow up.

Oh, Red Pill – do as you like – it doesn’t bother me, but everyone can see how insanely obsessive you are. Oh, how I laugh.

"Aragorn" (oh, how I laugh) – "revolution"? You are doomed to failure before you start. As for being a gentleman – considering you publicly posted a lie about me and called me a "b*st*rd", your actions betray the lie of your claim. You cannot defeat the undefeatable, so stop making public spectacles of yourselves.

Cassie, you can’t be looking too hard then. Arwen publicly accusing me of reporting her poems when I have never reported even one, Dark Angel making unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations about me, and Baby’s Blues telling outright lies about me in her responses. Trust a woman to turn it into a gender thing.

As for your other comments – people need to learn to accept responsibility for their own actions. If they post a poem on a PUBLIC FORUM and ask for comments, they must be prepared to be told it’s rotten if indeed it is – if they can’t handle it, they shouldn’t post. I’m not here to cater to fragile personalities who can’t deal with reality – I’m here to give an honest opinion, which is the best courtesy I can afford someone. If they don’t like it, they are free to disregard it, but to argue that they should be spared from hearing negative – even harsh – criticism is ridiculous. Do you know why there is so much bad poetry on this site? Because people are encouraged to write bad poetry by misleading and inaccurate "positive" feedback. If someone can’t write, but is too stupid to know, don’t worry – I’LL TELL ‘EM. And if they had an ounce of smarts, they’d realize I’m doing them a favour.
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