Is It Wrong to Only Love One Poetic Genre?

Do you love poetry, yet feel like an imposter and a fraud, because you only chime with one kind of poetry?

Maybe you even feel like a narrow-minded jerk for not appreciating all poetic styles and genres.

I only truly bond with one type of poetry, both as a reader and a writer. There are poems I can appreciate and like, but my ability to really, deeply feel it is limited if it’s not “my type” of poem.

Before I reveal what this type of poem is, let me talk about some completely valid poetry types that I just don’t mesh with much.

Poems Full of Abstract Words

Abstract words include examples like “love,” “redemption,” “deceit,” “jealousy,” and so on. I don’t have an issue with these, but when the poem is almost wholly made of abstract words, I start feeling a bit distant.

Once, I exchanged poems with a guy I met on Grindr who was a fellow English major. He wrote with some apocalyptic, philosophical words. It was a perfectly decent poem (he also majored in philosophy), but I just didn’t feel that into it.

On Medium, I encountered some skillful poets who wrote in that style as well. I could recognize that it was well written, but for some reason, I felt detached from it. Intellectually, I could process the meaning, but emotionally, I couldn’t really feel it, at least not that deeply.

Confessionals

The author directly narrates, sometimes with dialogue, a moving story. There’s nothing wrong with these either, and I may be touched by the stories. Yet, when it comes to the poetic form itself, I feel oddly unmoved. So I empathise with the author, connect with the story, but not with the poetics.

I vividly recall one poem where the author wrote about her past experiences in an abusive relationship. I felt for her and her story, but I couldn’t connect with the poem itself…

Heck, I thought there was something wrong with me, because other readers in the comments, seemed to feel it much more than I did. Maybe I lack empathy?

Poems with Exaggerated Language

Another kind of poem that I don’t vibe with, are the ones that speak with exaggerated language. By exaggerated, I don’t just mean dramatic. I mean using words that seem overblown for the actual subject matter.

Yes, poetic licence and artistic freedom are valid. Yet, I feel quite put off when the author seems to have no subtlety.

It feels like they’re trying to paint with a brush that’s too big for the object. It’s clumsy to me. At best, it’s a poem I may smile politely at. At worst, the poem sounds like screaming and it hurts my ears.

Humour Poems(!)

Don’t throw tomatoes at me yet. I do generally like them, in the way that you might enjoy a cute comic. So I am pleased to read them, but I just don’t have the romantic birds singing, breath-taken feeling. Again, it’s not the poets’ fault, but just the way my poetic palate seems to be.

Lately, I read some clever limericks by an author here. I definitely enjoyed them, but it felt more like fun than like consuming my soul. Not that the latter is required.

Can you guess what kind of poem I fancy?

If you write this type of poetry, I might have given you some high praise.

Drum roll, please!

The type that I love is — a poem full of concrete imagery and metaphors. I especially like nature imagery, but I enjoy other images, too. Having some abstract terms, dialogues, or storytelling is fine. But to really experience the blown-away feeling, it looks like I need those powerful images.

But as I alluded to above, the images have to be tempered in their use. I get turned off if they feel too exaggerated and unmeasured, like using a much louder picture to symbolize something much quieter. (Yes, I’m a bit synesthetic!) I love it when the words and metaphors are subtle.

Unusual images or image combinations are welcome. But even “cliches” can work for me, as long as it’s done well. For instance, how often do you see poets write about water and fire? Very often. But they never get old. As long as the poet does it skillfully.

As a writer, I also only write this kind of image-heavy poem. Mine is what I call a “regular free verse.” So, no strict rhyme or meter. But there are accidental rhymes. The stanza and line lengths are quite regular and unremarkable, too.

As a reader, I’ve enjoyed concrete-image poems of different sorts, whether in free verse, blank verse, sonnet, etc.

At first, I felt guilty that my tastes, especially as a writer, seem so narrow. Thus, this is weird to say, but I got a lot of praise for my poems. The one and only writing competition I won, was a poem: “A Soulful Love Poem to My Crush” (I won second place). My most viewed story on Medium happens to be a poem, too, “My Secret Love for a Boy with a Golden Retriever.” And a couple of poems got into the editors’ picks — “Intimacy is a Rowboat” and “My Secret Love for a Boy with a Golden Retriever.”

However, I’m a bit clueless about most poetic forms. I vaguely know about them, but I’m quite ignorant in general. I can’t remember most of the rules, and have to look them up every time. (How many syllables are in each line of a haiku again?)

I always had trouble remembering numbers, but that’s another story.

But I came to the conclusion that it’s okay to “specialize” in a particular type or niche of poetry. We don’t have to be a jack-of-all-trades. We’re not necessarily sticking to our comfort zone, being unadventurous, being boring, etc. If you genuinely feel happy with a particular type, and don’t feel the desire to write others, that’s fine. Maybe one day I’ll get sick of it and go to others.

Okay, there were times when I got tired of my style and tried other ones. But when I did so, I couldn’t get into the other types — I grew emotionally detached, even bored. So I went back to my “specialty” type, where my feelings poured in and connected again.

Over to you

How about you? Are you heavily drawn to a certain kind of poem, as a reader or a writer? Or do you find your poetic interests to be much broader? What are some of your favorite poetry types?

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Originally published in The Pub on Oct 26, 2023