Beyond Decent Poets

Katey(One Good Bumblebee / formerly Chewing on Pencils) reports on her disagreement with a fellow poet in AIM over the significance of the meaning of a poem. The argument is not a new one but I have to say that I believe the real issue is not the importance of the meaning but rather how important is it that the meaning of the writer and the perception of the reader be one in the same.

First of all, none of us share the same life experiences. Because of that, our exposure to concepts and even reality is limited to our own personal sphere of influence. What we have seen, read, felt, smelled, experienced in any of a number of ways. Most of us are not going to look at any three words paired together and necessarily come to the same point.

I believe both Katey and I for example have posted the subliminals on our blogs. We likely don't often match the same words. Much in this same way, we may read the same poem and find vastly different meaning. After all, of all literary forms poetry is the most compact usage of language and therefore the most introspective.

Katey's AIM friend suggests that this will not happen if the poet is a decent poet. May I politely suggest that this is a pile horse crap! By this fellow's standards, a lot of poets just fell from grace. My assessment is that poetry is for the most part a collaborative between the writer and the reader. As a writer my own feeling is that as soon as I put something out there in the public view, be becomes subject to collaborative views of the readers.

What the hell is a"decent" poet anyway? One fully clothed?