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John Anderson Biography

I was born under the star sign 'Pisces' and as the saying goes "You can't get over that". I have life-long interests in water, fish, the sea, sailing and everything wet and aquatic. I have a scientific background in the environment and fisheries. I have written extensively on many topics. I have created and manage a gaggle of websites. I have now retired and live in the 'Shark Shack' by the sea near Jervis Bay, on the South Eastern coast of Australia. I sail, fish, walk, dive and swim as much as I can with the motto: 'Diving for Pearls'. My main focus is on didactic poems. I love the poems of Dylan Thomas and my favorite movie is 'Under Milk Wood' (a radio play, made into a film). I also like Les Murray. My website is Poetry Community http://www.poetrycommunity.com. Cheers!

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Pet Peeves in Poetry?

Blog Posted by John Anderson: 7/19/2025 11:47:00 AM

This is very self-indulgent, but I want to share the two types of poems that I dislike:

Ice-Skating => These poems dance around the topic. They often have unrelated titles and lack clear aim or purpose, even when it comes to entertaining with wordplay, form, or meter. They are a jumble of skating twists, jumps and twirls, sometimes with personal experiences. They are shallow and cold, lacking emotion. They often justify themselves with the claim that they merely intend to trigger a response from the reader in some way or other. Authors also claim they are easier to write that way. I am annoyed when reading them.

Entrails Hung => These are poems with very short 1–3 word lines hung down the page, often centre-indented. I call this the 'poesy curse of hanging fruit strings'. Billy Collins said: “Some poems look like they fell down a flight of stairs, one word per step at a time.” There appears to be no reason why they are set out that way. I am annoyed when reading them.

I do not intend to be critical here in any way; people can do whatever they want. Perhaps you have a pet peeve you want to share.

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Brandy
Nicole

Date: 7/20/2025 6:28:00 PM

I'm not a fan of profanity. Belittling other poets through poems or comments. Reading long poems is time consuming, but if the subject grabs my attention, I can dive on in. Poems that are difficult to understand, because thoughts seem to go in different directions. Of course AI and plagiarism don't belong in the poetry world.

Brandy Nicole
Date: 7/20/2025 7:13:00 PM

Makes sense why we get along so well. :) Your long poems hold my attention, so I'm good there. You're able to touch my heart with your words.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 6:57:00 PM

No wonder we get along so well. I agree with everything you said. Though I do prefer writing longer poems, I've done some shorties too

Keith D
Trestrail

Date: 7/20/2025 5:32:00 PM

I hate it when my pet peeves on my golf clubs.

Beej Simrov
Date: 7/20/2025 8:51:00 PM

Just wait till it clubs on a peeve

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/20/2025 7:22:00 PM

Hey, I know what you did last summer!

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 7:01:00 PM

Got a BB gun? Jus sayin

Charlotte
Puddifoot

Date: 7/20/2025 8:06:00 AM

many! archaisms, predictable sing-songy end rhyme, flowery over alliteration..i'm not keen on religious or political poetry, and not a great fan of limericks or very short forms in general..ai and plagiarism goes without saying..snide poems aimed at other site members, i don't like to see that

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 5:54:00 PM

I was feeling inspired. Is it an A+?

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/20/2025 5:41:00 PM

That’s beautiful, Tommy. Just the right amount of archaism and plagiarism in short form. It would be the perfect storm if it had a little over the top alliteration but it’s a winner in any contest of Charlotte’s!

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 9:26:00 AM

Roses are red violets are blue, jus wanna say I'm in sync wit you. Wait! Was that too sing songy?

Jan
Allison

Date: 7/20/2025 6:18:00 AM

I dislike poems that are AI and poems that are plagiarised and passed on as poets own work ! Regarding plagiarism it galls to see it justified on a blog that we may have the same thoughts - yes we can have similar thought BUT not when a poem is posted verbatim and the plagiarism isn't an isolated event 20 maybe 30 poems all posted word for word - hmmm, and it's despicable to see a dead poet's words stolen. I also dislike sponsors reading and commenting on a poem which is clearly for their contest - a generic title would help and a different title created when the contest is over

Jan Allison
Date: 7/20/2025 9:14:00 AM

I'm glad you are posting elsewhere too I know several other people who are not happy with things on the site. Its sad to see poets no longer posting and some actually closing their accounts here Tania:-( hugs jan x

Tania Kitchin
Date: 7/20/2025 6:38:00 AM

Jan, this is why I have ventured on to other sites where the admins are more responsive.

John
Lawless

Date: 7/20/2025 5:52:00 AM

John, I often fish behind a prison. One guard asked me if I kept any of the fish, I replied "No, catch and release, just like you guys" I apply the same approach to reading poetry....I do favor what I call "Gotcha" lines...those that somehow slow the reader, change the tenor, and tease us to "read that one again"

John Anderson
Date: 7/20/2025 9:52:00 AM

tight lines man!

Tania
Kitchin

Date: 7/20/2025 5:16:00 AM

John, my biggest pet peeves are when people use AI or plagiarize poems and then post them as their own work. Such a disgrace and very dishonest. Unfortunately there has been a lot of this on PS these days. I also have a pet peeve of rude comments poets leave on poems. They should be supportive and positive. As far as poetry, as long as it is that poet's own work and not AI or stolen poetry than I think anything goes as far as creativity.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/21/2025 1:01:00 PM

Ooh ooh I agree too. Friends?

Tania Kitchin
Date: 7/21/2025 5:01:00 AM

Keith, thank you. Friendly is always good.

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/20/2025 5:14:00 PM

I agree with everything you said. Friends?

Gary
Radice

Date: 7/20/2025 1:48:00 AM

I'm smiling at the term Ice-Skating that you have used there John..I'm wondering if AI ticks the same boxes. :) (er..I'm not insinuating those who do ice skate use AI by the way and AI is OK by me as long as the poet acknowledges its use. ..he says trying to ice skate himself out of a possible awkward situation..) I personally have an aversion to the use of the word O (followed by !) particularly if it's used at the beginning of poems. That said I've liked a majority of such poems that I've managed to stick with so someone explain that to me. I'm partial to some alliteration for effect but an over use of it is a turn off for me. I like alliteration when it serves a purpose (to describe or add clarity) rather than when it distracts by becoming the main focus of the poem. All (my) comments aside I just hope people continue to write what they like to write, how they like to write and use the forms that they themselves are happy with and not put off by what they read here. A big no no for me in poetry is a poet writing just to please others. Cheers - Gary

Charlotte Puddifoot
Date: 7/20/2025 8:08:00 AM

i would hope when people enter my contests they write first and foremost to please themselves, rather than me

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 5:40:00 AM

So true your last line Gary and one of the reasons I don't enter many contests. As a rule I want to write what I like and I prefer to wait on inspiration

Sara
Etgen-Baker

Date: 7/19/2025 11:02:00 PM

thanks for sharing....I dislike 'flowery' poems that go on and on....seems like overkill...but that's just me

Kim
Rodrigues

Date: 7/19/2025 6:41:00 PM

A humorous way to blog your pet peeves. I can’t disagree with you. I like smaller poems but occasionally longer ones are worth a read. I don’t get into the overly intellectual or over the top wordiness. Some poets find just the right beat and are honest. I hate political poems, but not all (some are good, but most are not). I see forced rhyming win contests (?!) I guess I am a bit picky ~ though not perfect. Great topic!

John Anderson
Date: 7/19/2025 7:06:00 PM

Thanks very much; I agree with you. Cheers

Rob
Carmack

Date: 7/19/2025 4:47:00 PM

Homophone errors, unless used for effect.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/21/2025 12:13:00 PM

If that's not a mic drop I don't know what is (mic drop)

Brandy Nicole
Date: 7/21/2025 10:03:00 AM

Thanks for the welcome, Rob. It's more like, ' scissors have cut out so many little messages to place upon my heart, those cute moments in life. ' :)

Rob Carmack
Date: 7/21/2025 7:17:00 AM

Tom - the club is open to all. If this takes off, maybe PS can do a Anthology of mic drops down the road? Welcome Brandy. I am thinking you could incorporate 'scribble'. Something like; "those times when life takes the knife and carves a little scribble into your heart" mic drop

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 6:59:00 PM

Can Brandy join the mic drop club if she says something profound then does the drop thingy? It's not just a men's club is it?

Brandy Nicole
Date: 7/20/2025 6:55:00 PM

Testing, one, two three. Yes, it's working. I'll be careful, Rob.

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/20/2025 6:19:00 PM

JR, it’s on and open but don’t drop it. That’s Rob’s thing.

Brandy Nicole
Date: 7/20/2025 6:11:00 PM

Hello, is this thing on ? ( Tapping the mic )

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 4:35:00 PM

(sniff) thanks guys

Rob Carmack
Date: 7/20/2025 4:24:00 PM

Your first mic drop? At least the first I remember seeing. Welcome to the club.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 1:24:00 PM

I am hetero-sapien (mic drop) sorry not sorry

Rob Carmack
Date: 7/19/2025 9:03:00 PM

Tom, good thing you're a theist, otherwise, you would be 100% Homo Sapien. Keith - have to use the mic drops sparingly, don't want to dilute the effect.

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/19/2025 5:45:00 PM

I’m 100% Delta Zulu Tango!

Tom Woody
Date: 7/19/2025 5:34:00 PM

I am 100 % hetero-alpha male, thank you

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/19/2025 5:21:00 PM

What, no mic drop?

Keith D
Trestrail

Date: 7/19/2025 4:24:00 PM

I hate dishonest poetry. Emotionally, intellectually, factually, politically, culturally, contextually dishonest poems.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 12:51:00 PM

"I love, little baby birds, odes to stinking turds, and bugz!" - Tom T. Hall(ster)

Kim Rodrigues
Date: 7/19/2025 6:42:00 PM

And I like your comment!

Tom Woody
Date: 7/19/2025 5:33:00 PM

Who writes character assassination poems? Here? No way

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/19/2025 5:27:00 PM

Or character assassination hit job poems. Fuhgettaboudit!

Andrea
Dietrich

Date: 7/19/2025 2:33:00 PM

My pet peeves are poems with horrible punctuation and grammar mistakes (though grammar is not so bad now, probably with people getting help from AI). Also I can't focus attention on super long poems. Basically I mostly enjoy short poems, limericks, haiku (I find the shaped ones ok as long as I can make sense of them) and I love any poem that has clarity for me while using great imagery and/or makes me feel something.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/21/2025 1:12:00 PM

Just saw the latest contest wins. There were seven number ones. Didn't appear to be alphabetized at all. Yes, Charlotte is a preemie

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 7/21/2025 8:18:00 AM

Also it's no surprise to me Charlotte would win in your contest, Tommy, or in anyone else's . Her imagery is superb.

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 7/21/2025 8:15:00 AM

Happily there are always exceptions to the rule. I always feel amazing to win a contest sponsored by someone very different from me in style. By the way, to say I am a top winner in someones contests all the time is a bit misleading. My name often lands at the top alphabetically in contests with multiple wins at first place. I have not garnered a "true" first place trophy in probably a year or so and rightfully so, since those are the contests most often sponsored by free verse types. One person's contests I don't even enter because that sponsor has had me blocked for some unknown reason for ages and obviously likes commenting to everyone except me.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/21/2025 4:27:00 AM

I disagree. For example, Charlotte won my latest contest and our writing has nothing in common. Anyway, doesn't matter. Have a great week

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 7/20/2025 10:22:00 PM

Maybe I deserve good placements in the contests that really inspire me. There is no one judge who has ALWAYS given me top spot. Maybe "almost always" there are a few. But I work hard for the contests I really like. By the same token, I can rarely get a win or a high placement from poets who write in free verse. As poets, we are always going to prefer the poems of those whose own poetry is more closely aligned with our own style and preference.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 2:25:00 PM

Buwahahaha. Well, there's at least one sponsor who will always give you a top placement ;)

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 7/20/2025 2:08:00 PM

Tommy, haven't you figured out that I mostly don't enter your contests for the fact that you seem to prefer longer forms and for the fact that your themes are not too clear for me? I really liked a recent contest that you sponsored. That one I entered, and I was very happy to get a win. I'm just being choosier these days, I guess. I have no idea what to do with themes like worm holes and some of the other things people are coming up with here! (not just you!)

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 7/20/2025 1:31:00 PM

Thanks, Kim.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 5:45:00 AM

Just for that my next poem will be minimum fifty lines, so there

Kim Rodrigues
Date: 7/19/2025 6:44:00 PM

You are a great poet here, Andrea, and I always appreciate your critiques. I know you like for the poem to make clear sense. You know I like the ku too!!

Andrea Dietrich
Date: 7/19/2025 4:31:00 PM

Oh I love those too. All the Asian forms just as long as they are written like they should be.

John Anderson
Date: 7/19/2025 2:38:00 PM

Thanks I tend to prefer shorter poems as well mostly tanka

Tom
Woody

Date: 7/19/2025 1:14:00 PM

Tempting. Must... hold...back

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/20/2025 5:52:00 PM

I knew you could do it. Rules me out, I’ve never sponsored one.

Tom Woody
Date: 7/20/2025 5:44:00 AM

Contest sponsors that can't spell and aren't familiar with the forms or themes they're sponsoring and who demonstrate obvious bias on virtually every contest. Whew! That was cathartic. Thx for the prompting guys

Rob Carmack
Date: 7/19/2025 9:05:00 PM

Make that a double dare!

Keith D Trestrail
Date: 7/19/2025 4:26:00 PM

Go on. I dare you!

John Anderson
Date: 7/19/2025 2:38:00 PM

Ah come on give it a go, cheers