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Am I Poet or Not

Blog Posted by Indiana Shaw: 11/12/2025 12:12:00 AM

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Date: 11/19/2025 12:54:00 PM
Homer springs to mind, as does Beowulf and Canterbury Tales…. Campfire stories and songs relating giant bear hunts….Lullabies comforting our ancestral children.
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Date: 11/18/2025 8:43:00 PM
The is something poetic in every lyric and as a device we remember songs because they have poetry-esque rhythms and rhymes and storytelling apparatus. You are a poet, indeed. Complex subject 2 b sure.
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/19/2025 1:53:00 AM
Hi Arlo, I remember reading somewhere poetry has been used since the beginning of time, the Sumerians used poetry to tell their stories, the story of Gilgamesh springs to mind, and the Egyptians even used poetry too when ordering stock, so I can only presume poetry is the true language of the gods. And which then came first, written/oral poetry, or lyrics solely written for music alone, in walks Sumerian Enheduanna who says both . . . lol
Date: 11/14/2025 7:08:00 PM
. “Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/14/2025 9:02:00 PM
Cheers Craig . . .
Date: 11/14/2025 6:28:00 AM
thought provoking post. I believe you're a poet first and foremost; music is icing on the cake
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/14/2025 6:59:00 AM
Hi Sara, as far as I know we have been adding music and vocals to poems since I don't know when, and it always came up as a poem, as long as the writer is known as a poet, and only lyrics if the writer is known as a musician . . .
Date: 11/13/2025 5:16:00 PM
The answer is simple. You're definitely a poet. : )
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/14/2025 12:50:00 AM
Sweet, Brandy, I can rest in peace now . . . lol
Date: 11/13/2025 6:24:00 AM
There is one simple answer here, and multiple complex answers. If we write poetry we can be called poets. Whether we are good at it is where the complex comes to play and when poetry, melody, dance (artistic presentation), multi-media etc. are intermingled, it magnifies that complexity. I don't think you can say a poet is first and foremost or vice-versa in any multi-media, which is why many of the most memorable songs have separate lyricists and melody writers; because each have their own idiosyncrasies that, when paired, few have the skills to optimize. The vast majority of #1 songs have lyrics that wouldn't stand well on their own as poetry. AI is a separate matter - NO simple answers!
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CayCay Godwin
Date: 11/28/2025 1:54:00 PM
I'm arriving on the scene late, I know, but feel the want to say for me, it's the lyrics, always words BUT I love them coupled with good music, especially emotive guitars.
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Tom Woody
Date: 11/13/2025 8:19:00 AM
Yes I was watching an interview with Dennis Deyoung and he emphasized that melody (generally) trumps lyrics everytime. If it ain't catchy no one's gonna listen
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Craig Cornish
Date: 11/13/2025 7:27:00 AM
@TOM - hence, my wording "The vast majority" and - "No simple answer". Except to say a song is more apt to be popular because of rhythm and melody than words. There are, of course, many exceptions, as there are with ANYTHING...
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Tom Woody
Date: 11/13/2025 6:33:00 AM
Elton John and Bernie Taupin. On the other hand, there's Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney. No one size fits all for sure
Date: 11/12/2025 3:57:00 PM
Lyrics are poetry coupled with music. There are so many forms out there that it seems anything you write could be considered poetry. It is down to the eye of the beholder but I would agree that songs are poems too. The audio helps others to hear how the creator intends their work to be read (or sang) Im afraid I don't even have a clue when it comes to AI as like you, I prefer to be authentic in what I write. I personally believe that this is the whole point of having the privilege to share in the gift of poetry. But that's my two penny worth. :-D
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Natasha L Scragg
Date: 11/13/2025 4:20:00 PM
As I say, I wouldn't have a clue when it comes to AI. Don't know how to use it. But the human expression is authentic and it gives each poet/artist dignity and a sense of achievement. AI like all tech has its place but it is stepping over a line it need not cross. Just my opinion. :-)
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/12/2025 8:29:00 PM
Thank you Natasha, that leads into my next blog, should AI be allowed to be used to put music and vocals to a poem, or songs above say a real musician, or singer, for me there is a art in the choice of AI music and vocals to promote the mood of your poetic work in your own particular way, I can imagine it upsetting a lot of musicians and singers crying out that they are losing out on their talents to AI . . .
Date: 11/12/2025 3:50:00 PM
I wholly agree
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/12/2025 8:35:00 PM
Ello Andrea, I wholly agree with those who wholly agree even though I am not sure what they are wholly agreeing on . . . lol
Date: 11/12/2025 7:14:00 AM
It makes me think of Bob Dylan winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 2016. The Nobel Prize committee recognized Bob Dylan “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” That’s good enough for me! :-)
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Mark Toney
Date: 11/12/2025 8:21:00 AM
Indeed. Nice blog, Indiana.
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/12/2025 8:19:00 AM
Hi Mark, I love Bob Dylan, from that statement poetic expression and song tradition are clearly united, but still remain separate . . .
Date: 11/12/2025 6:38:00 AM
Songs are poetry set to music.
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/12/2025 8:44:00 PM
A stuttering Darth Vader, hold the thought there . . . lol
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/12/2025 8:41:00 PM
Sure Chetta, I found rhyme helped me a great deal back in the day to maintain words in my head, and lead me onto new words that rhymed with them, though the spelling of those words did not come until a lot later . . .
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Chetta Achara
Date: 11/12/2025 12:57:00 PM
@Indiana. I recently learned that James Earl Jones (the voice of Star Wars Darth Vader) stuttered when he was young. He did not speak at school because he was bullied because of it. One time a teacher assigned reading poetry. Jones discovered that the rhythm of poetry allowed him to speak without a stutter.
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/12/2025 6:48:00 AM
Hi Chetta, I was pretty dyslectic back in the day, and used poetry to improve my writing and spelling, but I still have problems understanding things written, and the definition of the official differences between poetry, and lyrics just did not help me, to me it just seemed to be saying the same thing, but whilst clearly stating there is a difference, no help to me whatsoever . . . lol
Date: 11/12/2025 5:23:00 AM
Jerry curtis, Crystol woods and others are doing the same. It certainly does remain poetry and you and they remain poets
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Indiana Shaw
Date: 11/12/2025 6:40:00 AM
Cheers, Woody, appreciated, I find Pantoum's are the worst poems to put music to . . . lol

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Am I Poet or Not
Date Posted: 11/12/2025 12:12:00 AM

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