this post was submitted on 14 Sep 2024
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Poetry

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A community to celebrate published and OC works of poetry.


Welcome to !poetry


Guidelines & Community Rules

In addition to the general rules of lemmy.world:

Published Poetry

1a: Poetry posts should include the title and the author, when the author is known.

O.C. Poetry

2a: Sharing original poetry is encouraged, but it must be preceded by the tag "[OC]."

2b: If an [OC] post is requesting feedback, it should also follow with the "[FB]" tag. It would look like the following example:
[OC] [FB] Nothing Gold Can Stay

Feedback

All feedback should be given in good faith.

3a: All [FB] requests should be met with comments constructive in nature. It is okay to dislike parts of a poem, but make sure to explain why you feel that way.

3b: Feedback does not need to be extraordinary in nature. Simply expressing how a work makes you feel is often enough.

3c: Use the honor system. When you receive good feedback, return it in kind to another author. Everyone appreciates knowing their work is being read and appreciated.

As this community develops, these guidelines may be adjusted.


Formatting Help
Work in progress

To create a line break, use two spaces at the end of a line.

To create empty space, type  . Use four of these at the beginning of a line to create a standard indent.

UPDATE:
Some methods of access do not format markdown correctly. I am currently testing various apps and web interfaces to see what does and does not retain formatting.

In the interim, it is encouraged to post text poetry as you normally would, but to include a link at the beginning or end of the post with access to a website or image that retains the formatting as intended.


Other Poetry Communities
Poetry lovers unite! In the style of the fediverse, multiple poetry communities have arisen, and will continue to rise. I will try to keep a list here of communities across instances that are worth checking out!


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submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by [email protected] to c/poetry
 

Thoughts while contemplating life during a short episode of autistic burnout.

spoilerMisuse (warranty voided)

I play my part,
as a cog in the machine.
But suddenly,
there is a crack!

Faulty features,
worrisome wear.
Not designed
for constant use.

The body in turmoil
yet the mind untouched.
Uncharted territory
without a reference point.

Enthralled by expectations
from myself and others.
Take a step back
and look again!

The coin of nihilism
lands right side up.
I alone
am the author of my story.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I totally agree.

Interesting that that's your takeaway. It's definitely one of the overarching themes in my poetry right now.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

It's literally the first sentence - the "part... in the machine". Also "reference point" (true aloneness would not offer such an insight), and "expectations from... others".

We all exist in nature, yet nurture plays such a heavy hand in us that we can barely separate out which is which or how much has derived from either. Unless we happen to have been part of twins separated at birth, then reunited, and studied - which many geneticists have made entire careers out of studying, like Francis Collins former Director of the National Institutes of Health until the pandemic. i.e., like the pandemic, whether we like it or not, we are affected by others who write so much of our stories that sometimes it's difficult to tell where "we" begin.

e.g. someone "daring to be different", just like everyone else, and people refusing vaccinations, bc someone told them to, etc. Our minds are a playground where others romp and play, and it's so EXTREMELY hard to even notice those effects, much less counteract them.

And should we even? Like I live in the USA, so I think "freedom" is nice, but someone living in e.g. China might enjoy more the feeling of existing in the constraints of a society that acts to take care of its citizens, e.g. with healthcare? Definitely the Nazis did not think much for personal freedoms, compared to the overall rights of the State. So how much of how "I" think was determined for me? Born into a country, a religion, a family, a culture, a people, am I even me?

Yes, but it has taken decades to arrive here, and most people refuse to follow, not my path I mean but their own. And how much of that is simply growing up, that everyone does, yet old people talk on Facebook and by sending chain emails, where us non-boomers don't like to follow? :-P I suspect it's rare, even if I have no proof, based on what I've seen so far.

So I am glad that you are exploring this dichotomy, between being "alone" vs. not, when the former is so extraordinarily difficult to truly arrive at that I suspect most people never get there in their entire lifetime. A truly remarkable achievement indeed, assuming it's even possible to ever actually get there - perhaps like walking to the moon on foot, it's merely a story that we tell ourselves to make us feel better?