this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2025
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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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[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Upvote for uploading half a poem

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 8 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (2 children)

That's a really interesting poem. I admire its passion, although I definitely don't want its philosophy for me. I feel like subtlety and nuance are as important as boldness and directness. Maybe I'm misinterpreting it. This sounds to me like a reversal of the saying, "perfection is the enemy of good." I read it as "all or nothing."

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 4 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Same. The author speaks from privilege, but e.g. to a starving person half a meal is very much preferable to nothing at all - obviously a full meal would have been even better but half will do, for now, and offer energy to then have a better shot at gaining a whole one?

But it's a poem, so communicated truth using language as a vehicle, and I suppose it was successful because it got all of us to talk about it:-).

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Well, now I feel like I'm back in school and just got tricked into enjoying learning something new by an English teacher. I am begrudgingly grateful. [Shakes fist]

[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 1 points 22 minutes ago

If only we could all become so fortunate as to have a lawn and live to be old enough to yell at kids to get off of it!:-)

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 4 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago) (1 children)

I don't think it's saying you should be brash and unsubtle. It's just saying that you should commit, and give things the energy they deserve. Don't half-arse things.

I think that can definitely be compatible with subtlety and nuance, if you want it to.

[–] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Fair enough. I'm glad to have another perspective on it. I do feel like it's okay, maybe even good, to be ambivalent about certain things and half-arse them, even if it's only to test the consequences of doing so to see where they should fall in the order of priorities.

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 2 points 5 hours ago

Yeah, I agree. Testing things out is super valuable.

Tbh, I often don't know how to take poetry.. Sometimes I think I value it just because it captures a vibe that is very important, but only at specific times or places. Maybe the world is too complex for anything meaningful to be true in all situations.

[–] PrimeErective@startrek.website 5 points 16 hours ago

Here's the second... Half...

Half a life is a life you didn't live,

A word you have not said

A smile you postponed

A love you have not had

A friendship you did not know

To reach and not arrive

Work and not work

Attend only to be absent

What makes you a stranger to them closest to you

and they strangers to you

The half is a mere moment of inability

but you are able for you are not half a being

You are a whole that exists to live a life not half a life

[–] sartalon@reddthat.com 2 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

Very nice.

Reminds me of Pablo Neruda's poem, "Ode to a Couple".

*Edit: Added actual poem title.