May I be really honest here?

(real question)


I'm wincing as I write this as I know it will ruffle some (probably many) feathers, but I have to be true to my word to call us out so we can get better, as I have talked about in other articles such as this one.

I'm so sorry for what I'm about to say. Really. Big breath.

But.. the poetry on here getting upvoted (for the most part, not always) is.. so...

...

........

.................bad.

(There, I said it). Like really bad. Wince-worthy and painful to anyone who values the written word and the tradition of literature in the world.

I went over to the poetry section tonight to try to get to know some fellow writers as that is a goal of mine here, but I couldn't find anything that I could authentically comment on, without just being really critical and telling them I winced through the whole thing (so obviously I didn't comment). And these were the ones getting sometimes 100s of upvotes.

None of this stuff would ever have a remote chance to get published--and rightly so. How is it doing so well here?

It's not jealous at all (because trust me, you couldn't pay me to put my name on stuff like that), but it is an authentic experience of dismay--wide-eyed, bewildered, confused dismay.

(actual dismay)

I know it seems unkind to say it, but I just feel more and more that it needs to be said. Our tastes on the whole as a society have become horrendous. It turns my stomach.

I know I am officially "no one" and there isn't really any specific reason you should listen to me. I'm not published as a poet, with some minor exceptions, as poetry hasn't been a focus of mine until recently--but I am a skilled singer-songwriter with an emphasis on lyrical content, and have quite a few credentials there in terms of my professional work (I have written with Grammy-winning writers, travelled all over for my work, worked with a record label for a while, have won awards for my writing, etc., and, more than all of that, people who I respect in turn value and authentically respect my work, which is probably the most valuable credential to me).

Anyways, credentials or not, someone has to say it.

Perhaps you are one of those people who likes those poems, or even upvoted them. Or maybe even authored them. To be clear, I don't think this makes you some kind of bad person. (Contrary to popular belief, we can actually distinguish those things, even though much of the world has trouble understanding that.) But I really don't understand how we have come to so devalue quality work that those are the kinds of works receiving attention here.

I honestly thought Steemit was better than that! And I don't mean that cruelly or sarcastically: I mean it with utter sincerity. I thought I would find better quality work here than I've seen elsewhere. It's hard to see that that is not the case, on the whole.

Just because you throw some sentimental words together that express something you feel deeply doesn't make it poetry or art. It just makes it sentimental words thrown together.

(actual face palm)

How did we get here culturally? How did we completely lose a sense of what is actually worthy of our approbation?

I'm at a loss. What's the conversation we need to have to remedy this? Is there even one we can have? I'm really at a loss when I see what I saw tonight. Is it even worth saying anything, or trying to start a conversation, especially at the risk of likely taking a lot of flack for it and maybe hurting some people who feel they are giving their best?

Now, to be clear for my new readers: I'm not trying to take the wind out of the sails of budding artists. I'm not trying to be some kind of annoying elitist. But I have to be true to my word to call out dross when I see it, and I am seeing it disappointingly often here on Steemit--a community which I firmly believe is much better and more intelligent than that from what I've seen in other areas. To my mind, every budding writer deserves the dignity of being challenged so they can actually become the artists they are capable of becoming. An English teacher of mine who was not unkind but was willing to be critical of my writing was crucial for me developing as a writer.

I'm not looking for established Dylans and Eliots and Frosts and Dickinsons. Really. I'm just looking for REAL poetry that has the at least flickering quality of brilliance and enchantment that is the hallmark of good creative writing. Such as these:

https://steemit.com/poetry/@artedellavita/once-upon-you-a-poem

https://steemit.com/story/@prufarchy/to-the-lover-original

https://steemit.com/story/@prufarchy/stir-in-the-air-original

(please go and upvote these ones if you get what I'm trying to say in all of this)

I'll say it again: just writing a journal entry and adding random spacing does not make it a poem. It makes it a journal entry with awkward spacing that is now for some reason being shared publicly.

I'm very open to a discussion about this. We NEED to talk about it and at least just start somewhere. I want Steemit to be a place that curates and celebrates authentically great art, and I believe we can get there.

(wincing as I press post and sending love to all of the potentially wounded artistic souls)

(actual wincing)

Xx, Kay



If you're interested in staying involved in the unfolding of this conversation, don't forget to follow @kayclarity. I write about art, life, the world on Steemit, and post my own poetry and music.