dream_poetry epitome of incomprehensibility When I mention the book Ulysses in a Zoom poetry meeting, a grey-haired man pipes up that he remembers the part where Leopold Bloom cheats on his wife with "Dara." He wrote a poem about it too, with the line "He holds Dara in his arms." I'm embarrassed to tell him that there's no character called Dara in the book, far as I remember, so I suggest writing "He holds the dawn in his arms" instead. The grey-haired man nods seriously. I'm surprised that he thinks this is meaningful, because I don't. We workshop it a little. Eventually, the line morphs into "He clamps down the dawn with his elbow." 220222 ... epitome of incomprehensibility I didn't know that I'd get feedback for reading a poem at an open mic, but I do. It's in the form of an email rejection letter, saying unfortunately the poem I read wasn't going to be included in the next journal issue (what journal?), but that there was a link with some feedback. I click. There's my poem, with red marks and comments. The person who transcribed it wrote the title wrong and then commented that the title could be clearer. Some of the lines are too long, she adds. I'm grumpy about the mistake - or so I think. Okay, I'm more grumpy about the negative feedback. The reviewer's name is at the top - Annie or Aimee Byatt (no one I know in real life, though there's a writer who died last year called A.S. Byatt). What's if I look up HER poems and then criticize them, huh? ...But then I cool down. All right, maybe I want my lines to be long, but I could have a different title. How about "Warhammer 9000"? Allude to video games, with a goofy mix-up to lend irony. Or wait, would that be ridiculous? And if I *do* make the requested changes, would I have a chance to be published in the journal (whatever journal)? 240606 what's it to you? who go blather from