Punctuation

Poetry is not all about punctuation Poetry is more about meaning If you need punctuation To guide you Then this is The last thing You should be reading. "!?:-',.;!?

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Michael Tor

Date: 12/20/2024 12:49:00 AM

John this makes so much sense my friend. Very true...

John Read
Date: 12/21/2024 9:56:00 AM

Thank you Michael, have a lovely evening God bless.

Darlene De Beaulieu

Date: 11/7/2024 11:10:00 AM

Hello John Read, I do agree. Enjoy your day my friend. /Darlene/

Darlene De Beaulieu
Date: 11/7/2024 11:33:00 AM

Hello John it is nice to see you as well. You are welcomer. Enjoy your day m y friend. /Darlene/

John Read
Date: 11/7/2024 11:12:00 AM

Thank you Darlene nice hearing from you God bless.

Karen Jones

Date: 10/13/2024 3:00:00 PM

Love it! This is so true! So many grammar natzis out there!

John Read
Date: 10/14/2024 12:08:00 AM

Thank you Karen, to enter some of the poetry contests, you'd need a English degree.

Jim Slaughter

Date: 10/13/2024 10:05:00 AM

I agree, John. Punctuation is not the be-all end-all of poetry, but it does help, sometimes, in figuring out just what it is a poet is attempting to say.

John Read
Date: 10/13/2024 10:14:00 AM

It seems in poetry contests on here, no matter how good the poem, it's judged more on punctuation than meaning. Have a lovely evening Jim.

Duke Beaufort

Date: 10/13/2024 9:05:00 AM

John, you are vey philosophical in a short space...and that's very impressive and cool. Smiles!!

John Read
Date: 10/13/2024 10:09:00 AM

Thank you Duke your cool to.

Andrea Dietrich

Date: 10/12/2024 1:56:00 PM

Ok. I am a grammar teacher, so I have three things to say here. One: you are so right that meaning is the most important thing. Two: the ending is cute and funny. Third: punctuation becomes necessary when a person is wordy and does not know how to use appropriate line breaks as you have done here. A long sentence without a well placed comma can give a meaning opposite to what the writer actually meant. I do not require punctuation in my contests if line breaks are clear. However, it bugs me to see people putting the wrong mark after every single line. I see down below that you never learned it. Lots of articles online teach it. My son became a lawyer and was having me edit papers for him in college, but finally he realized its importance and studied it online. Now his writing is amazing!

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 10/14/2024 9:57:00 AM

yes, I can think of maybe one judge who is that way. I use four criteria in my own contests: Ability to make good sentences (which includes punctuation IF needed), imagery and/or creativity/ my own opinion of how nice the poem is/ And the writing of the poem to correct form. Hope that doesn't put too many people off!

John Read
Date: 10/13/2024 4:14:00 AM

I understand what your saying Andrea, but some of the contests on here are too strict. When a poem is judged only on punctuation, rather than content and meaning, then it's like sitting for an exam.

Beryl Edmonds

Date: 10/12/2024 10:14:00 AM

Brother John, I’m not good with punctuation either, I write as I do whether it suits or not, I don’t give a hoot… Sis Beryl

John Read
Date: 10/12/2024 10:25:00 AM

Hi sister Beryl, as you well know, punctuation's not my line, I'm just happy that my poem's rhyme.

Lin Lane

Date: 10/11/2024 2:07:00 AM

Morning, John. When in school we had to use punctuation. I sometimes agree that it distracts, so often I don't use it when writing poetry. A few years ago I was N/A'd in a contest because the sponsor said I'd put a comma in the wrong place. hmmm I am an English/Literature graduate and 16 years of professional editing.

John Read
Date: 10/11/2024 8:52:00 AM

Hi Lin, some of the rules in the poetry contests are ridiculous, I left school aged 15, started my first job in 1962, so didn't get much of a education, I just share my thoughts through poetry, with a touch of humour thrown in, most of my writing's are on Familyfriendpoems. Enough of my ranting thank you for your visit and comment Lin God bless you.