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Timothy Hicks

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My name is Timothy Hicks, and I've been writing for 5 years now, since I was 13. My main hobbies include writing, playing my piano, origami and bicycling.

I'm a bit OCD about some things and some would refer to me as a nervous pacer. I like to do outdoor activities, but at the same enjoy my alone time where I can sit and write. I'm a very avid reader and enjoy several different genres: horror, science-fiction, fantasy, and mysteries such as Sherlock Holmes.

I've had several different jobs including shakerboarder, pizza-make and cotton candy maker-and-distributor.

I like to think of myself as someone that can fit into almost any crowd and I always try to stay on the bright side of things. I swear very little and hardly ever get mad at people. I believe spreading smiles is a much better practice than sharing negativity...

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A Question About Best Poems

Blog Posted by Timothy Hicks: 5/25/2016 12:49:00 PM

Me again ... making a random blog!

While starting up my new contest that involves Best Poem Lists, a thought came to me ... how do "Best Poems" make it on the list? My Best Poem List has fluctuated quite a bit recently, and while some of the poem choices make sense to me, others are quite surprising.

For instance, my Third Best Poem, is a little poem I wrote three years ago called, "Benjamin Franklin". I think it's a decent poem, but for the life of me I can't figure out why it placed so high, when it hardly got any attention, and is a poem I nearly forgot about ... are they based on views, how many times it got faved, ratings?

I know this is an odd question, but I tend to make really random blogs ... lol.

What do YOU think about your Best Poem lists? Do they surprise you, feel as though they represent you best as a poet and/or person?

Let me know in the comments ...

-Tim

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Carol
Eastman

Date: 5/26/2016 10:55:00 AM

I'm definitely curious. One of my poems showed up momentarily at the end of the list... As the saying goes 'Enquiring minds want to know'.

Constance
La France

Date: 5/26/2016 9:15:00 AM

Tim, I am not sure I am looking in the right place for my best poems, for example, if I look at the best poems list, I only have 3 there, if I type in my user name, it says best poems of broken wings (that's the one I thought I could use) but if I look at poems other poets faved, it is a different list.., what list do I go by,.?? Constance

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/26/2016 12:04:00 PM

Hey Constance ... I sent you a Soup Mail .. hope I made it clear enough in that mail message ... I wasn't aware there were multiple lists!

Cyndi
Macmillan

Date: 5/26/2016 6:26:00 AM

Tim, I added some comments below for you... about three years ago, somebody on Soup introduced me to that concept and it changed my definition of poetry. It took me a long time to wrap my head around it. As a fiction writer, I was taught that my story must be 100 percent clear... very little room for ambiguity. When I put up a poem to see if it was clear to one and all... I was shocked to read the interpretations, thought I had "failed." It was only after study that I realized the poem had done what it was meant to do... whisper something to each reader, a unique message for each one. Took me decades to get that! I'm glad you found the concept interesting or even strange. Cheers :)

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/26/2016 11:56:00 AM

There should always be some room for mystery (in my opinion) ... unless, of course, you are reading something like Sherlock Holmes, where typically everything is wrapped up very nicely in the end ... love those stories!!

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/26/2016 11:55:00 AM

Fiction and poetry are definitely in two different worlds ... but have you ever read a story that merges the two?? That's when things become really memorable. Not all fiction stories I've read are 100% clear, yet somehow it didn't diminish my enjoyment out of it ... H. P. Lovecraft has written stories in a very ambiguous manner, for instance ...

Rob
Carmack

Date: 5/26/2016 1:38:00 AM

I did a quick and very informal study of my list. My final guess, at least three variables are included in populating the list: number of times faved, average rating & number of comments. But no variable is primary. It would be nice if TPS would tell us.

Andrea
Dietrich

Date: 5/25/2016 9:07:00 PM

Timothy, I recently checked the Best Poems list again. It is looking accurate now than it did last time I saw it! To me, it looks like it is based on Faves. Those who are community builders are getting wins consistent with their level of activity, and it's natural that when You see others and they see you, you have a better chance to get a fave from them. That is my assumption. Did you ever ask TPS at the Contact us place? I'm sure they can tell you.

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/25/2016 10:43:00 PM

No, I never did ... I'm not dying to know, was just curious if anyone had a better idea than me! Faves make sense to me ... I just think it's strange because my Ben Franklin poem is three years old and all the sudden it's my third best poem ... how did that happen?

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 5/25/2016 9:08:00 PM

left off a word. It's looking "more" accurate to me than when I saw it a couple of weeks ago.

Rob
Carmack

Date: 5/25/2016 3:14:00 PM

Tim, I am not certain, but I think it is driven, at least in part, by ratings.

Rob Carmack
Date: 5/26/2016 1:17:00 AM

Faves is probably the first filter, may be the only one. Ratings may be used to order those favs with the same value, or those poems with the same fav number are ordered as they are encounter by the code.

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/25/2016 10:38:00 PM

According to Ruben it has to do with faves ... Hmm ....

Rob Carmack
Date: 5/25/2016 5:09:00 PM

Maybe it goes by favs first and then orders them by rating average.

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 5/25/2016 3:34:00 PM

hmm, no I can't believe it is based on ratings, but perhaps partly, Rob.

Poet Destroyer
A

Date: 5/25/2016 3:05:00 PM

WOW, the strangest thing just happen --- Sorry, Tim, I had to remove my comment. Not that I said anything wrong! However, the strangest thing just happen... WOW, I'm in shock... WOW.... LINDA

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/25/2016 10:37:00 PM

Now that's a WEIRD glitch. Almost spooky ... how frustrating!

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/25/2016 6:13:00 PM

Is that what happened to you??? I'd typed "this is a suggestion and only a suggestion." and it disappeared! But the rest of my comment remained!!!! UGH!!! I can see this leading to even more problems! More misunderstandings! ROOOOAR!!!

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/25/2016 6:12:00 PM

PD. I just typed something on another blog and one of my sentences DID NOT SHOW. I KNOW, absolutely know, I typed it... but it cut it out. The sentence was NOT at the end of the comment! What the !!

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 5/25/2016 3:35:00 PM

wow, my remark disappeared too, PD What does THAT mean??

Constance
La France

Date: 5/25/2016 2:40:00 PM

Tim, I am not totally sure either, but suspect it is a combination of views, and favs, I don't think it has anything to do with comments or ratings... which is odd, Constance

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/25/2016 10:36:00 PM

I see what you mean about the five words ... this should be interesting ... lol.

Constance La France
Date: 5/25/2016 3:03:00 PM

oh also, those poems selected of mine, have the highest views of my poems...

Constance La France
Date: 5/25/2016 3:02:00 PM

Tim, I just looked at My Best Poems List, for your contest, and I must say in my case they are some of my best, but oh my gosh, my 5 words will be so strange to work with!!!

Cyndi
Macmillan

Date: 5/25/2016 2:32:00 PM

Though it is nice that readers choose certain poems as the best of the best, they rarely are the ones the actual poet would choose as the best. I have trimmed my poems from Soup and I will probably do so again. The poetry I have on Soup does not represent who I am as a poet, anymore... but it DOES represent the poet I used to be... I think that once we write a poem and have it published on Soup (cause that is what Soup really is, a forum for self-publishing) than the poem is not wholly ours anymore... part of it is ours and part of it belongs to every reader. What that poem means to THEM is personal and invested. They put themselves in our work. So I feel honoured they have claimed it..

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/26/2016 11:52:00 AM

I've never thought about posting a poem on a blog before ... not a bad idea since you have a higher character limit than on normal poem comments. My "That Was a Human" poem has gotten a lot of attention, and has a little wiggle room for interpretation ... for me it has some rather personal emotions in it ... for others? I don't know ...

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/26/2016 11:50:00 AM

You have a very insightful mind, Cyndi. Yes ... it must be true with all forms of art. Like a group people gathered around a huge gemstone ... each seeing some different facet, or angle, from THEIR particular viewpoint ... but not contradictory or conflicting ... just getting to see more and more of what is there (if that makes sense??) ...

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/26/2016 6:17:00 AM

Some of us have put up our poems in a blog... Nikko has... and they have asked what the poem means... to pick certain lines that may not be crystal clear and write about what it says. You'd be surprised. If you do it with your own poem, "That was a Human," you may see what I mean... it becomes the readers...

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/26/2016 6:07:00 AM

BRB

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/26/2016 6:07:00 AM

The reader who lived on the street for two years, almost died.. will read something differently than the reader who has never known true hardship, never experienced loss or injustice. WE are a part of the poem.

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/26/2016 6:06:00 AM

I think the best poems out there speak on a highly personal level to their readers, but if you ask a hundred readers what the poem meant to them... each would have a different answer. We bring ourselves to the poem and then the poem changes.

Cyndi Macmillan
Date: 5/26/2016 6:01:00 AM

Every poem we write is a give away. Every art piece becomes someone else's. The song on the radio is interpreted by the listener. The painting in the gallery is seen as something the artist never intended. The strange ending in the movie? understood differently by 12 viewers. What was thrown off the Tallahatchie Bridge in the Ode to Billie Joe?

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/25/2016 10:32:00 PM

What an intriguing perspective, Cyndi ... a poem that belongs to all who reads it. I like that.

Tim
Smith

Date: 5/25/2016 1:58:00 PM

I do believe they are based on the number of times they were made favorite. Maybe you have some admirers : )

Timothy Hicks
Date: 5/25/2016 10:31:00 PM

Perhaps there are many admirers of Ben Franklin, too! Lol ...

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A Question About Best Poems

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