“Some people think the poem’s beauty is in the cloaking and the use of large words.
I think it’s in the weaving of meanings into meanings such that the reader MUST see something at first glance and see more each time….
Sometimes, the ‘big word’ discourages more than it impresses and you lose your audience…just like that.”
~ Kukogho Iruesiri Samson (KIS)
“Poetry is communication, both poet and reader bring something, if they do not meet, poetry doesn’t happen.
It’s not whether one uses big words or not, but what one does with them. You can dress a fool in a velvet gown, and he will still be a fool, only more ridiculous.”
~ Albert Jungers
“I know a *poet*, self acclaimed I might add, who uses terms with a glossary to explain.
This takes from the enjoyment of the words for what they say.
If the average person cannot understand, who are we writing for; a congregation of one?
I like to feel the texture of the words and put them into a basket that anyone can reach into and pull out what they need.”
~ Nancy Alcorn
“[Complex poetry] most of the time gets so meaningless from the first gaze.”
~ Bankole Kolawole
“The simple ones are the most powerful… fancy big words do not belong in poetry…”
~ Daniel Kosower
“As paint is to a painter, so are words to a poet. Beautiful poetry takes great artistry and mastery of the words used, not just in the use of simple words or ‘big words’, appealing to the audience to the detriment of true creativity.”
~ Shola Balogun
“[Creating] poems [is] like drawing a table… We begin with the flat surface then the edges, the sides and, finally, the legs. Such that each stage communicates with the previous…”
~ Pius Ahubalueze
“You know, it’s funny how it has become [hard] for some people to maintain that balance between beauty and fashion. Fashion is good, but too much focus on fashion makes a man a ‘beauty fool’, no longer beautiful.
That’s exactly what happens to a poem that misses the balance between words and worth.”
~ Ayobami Enitilo
*Do you have a different opinion, or a similar one? Add it here…lets have fun on this topic.*
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