Not For You

Jennifer Sioux Gemmell

I hate writing a "bio" because it's usually nothing more than the best or worst about someone's life, carefully crafted to elicit a particular response from the intended audience. It's a sixty-second introduction and first impression that usually leaves a lot to the imagination, and imaginations can be dangerous weapons in the wrong hands. I have been writing poetry for over 20 years, since I was first "forced" to do so for a 7th grade English class assignment. The majority of my poetry does not rhyme because I think 99% of rhyming poetry sounds like it was forced into a particular format with commercialization in mind and lacks any real depth, meaning or emotion. I rarely read poetry because I dislike most poetry. It seems to me that the majority of other people's poetry falls into one of three categories...it's either something oozing with teenage angst, smarmy Hallmark tittering in an obviously desperate attempt at fitting into a particular rhyming format, or it's a bunch of "five dollar words" scrambled together in an odiously long epic with the goal of appearing cerebral and profound and failing miserably. (Yes, I'm an overly judgmental person.) I've written well over 1,000 poems in the past two decades and of those I probably actually like a dozen, at best. I despise almost all of my poetry. I don't write for an audience and don't care if anyone likes or dislikes anything I write, because nothing I've written has ever been FOR anyone to approve or disapprove of. I write because it's cathartic and it is my chosen means of expression, since I'm a dismal failure at expressing myself via other means. If I didn't write, I'd probably have become homicidal long ago. The only reason I'm putting my poetry on poetry.com is because some of my friends and family have asked about reading it in the past, and this provides them with one centralized location for doing so. I'm not interested in "internet fame" as a poet and I'm certainly not seeking an approving audience for anything I write. The only audience I feel I should write for is an audience of one - and that's myself. more…

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