Foreword: Some occasional thoughts on reading and writing poetry, some nonsense, and some miscellaneous thoughts. The time span is more than 20 years, and there is no need to take it seriously or explore it...

1.

When we talk about the structure of poetry, it is very much like talking about a poem. clock. The analogy is accurate but not new. We talk about the craft of poetry much like we talk about the craft of carpentry, a metaphor that is accurate but not new, even though a skilled carpenter refuses to “use nails and glue.” Then, let us abandon all metaphors for poetry.

2.

"The poetry of facts" is a correct poetic judgment. But in writing practice, we often see that spoken writing tends to be “factual”, while non-spoken writing tends to be “poetic.” It might be better if the two phases are closer. This will certainly not change their existing aesthetic dimensions.

3.

In the poetry world, there is a strong trend of worshiping foreign countries. It seems that foreign poetry is good poetry, and what foreign poets say is wisdom. What a famous poet said in a specific environment or about a certain poem is also applied indiscriminately, and the problem of using the spear of the son to attack the shield of the son can be seen everywhere.

In the minds of many people, a review citing Liu Xie's "The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons" and Wang Guowei's "Human Words" is definitely not as modern as quoting Eliot, Auden or Szymborska. As Westerners, citing modernism will definitely appear more modern than citing realism.

Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize, and everyone rushed to verify the origin of poetry. Is this a problem?

Some foreign poetry is actually not very good, but people rarely say it is not good. The most you can do is curse the translator.

Some foreign poems (such as Paul Celan and Vallejo) are very difficult to understand (or even unreadable at all), but people bite the bullet and refuse to admit it.

When we read foreign poetry, we look up. We tolerate them. We defend it by quoting scripture. We use various isms and rhetorical techniques to cover up the flaws in their poetry. What's more, we will use our best efforts to interpret it into a great part.

5.

Some people put the reading comprehension that they eat alive into their writing, making them angry, mischievous, and convoluted without any reason.

The current serious homogeneity of poetry is directly related to our single nutrition.

Tradition and foreignness are all brought in. The poetry of the new era, especially since the 1990s, has tended to be more Western-oriented; but I feel that another kind of overcorrection may appear in the future. We are not sitting on the seesaw of poetry. If everyone has a partial eclipse, they will become homogeneous. The most fundamental thing is to write your own unique poetry. Uniqueness is a special fusion and comfortable adjustment.

What belongs to Li Bai belongs to Li Bai; what belongs to Wang Wei belongs to Wang Wei; what belongs to Rilke belongs to Rilke; what belongs to Tagore belongs to Tagore; what belongs to you belongs to you.

6.

The images in a poem should not be too numerous. Writing poetry is like playing a top, only when it spins around the center of the circle is it stable.

A poem is best written with only one meaning, one emotion. An anthill cannot fit into a horse's hoof.

Be willing to change your own poems. Peel a piece of bamboo into a toothpick or at least a chopstick.

Images and moods are not unsaleable products that poets have on hand to sell out. Before writing a poem, sort through the materials and put them in the warehouse if you don’t need them for the time being.

7.

I suddenly felt that some of Li Bai’s poems were suitable for being recited among primary school students. Will they feel that exaggeration is an absolute technique?

8.

Some poems are reluctant to read after reading the title. It’s nothing more than the romance of ancient times, nothing more than the freshness of the Republic of China, nothing more than narcissism or self-reliance.

Emotions are old emotions and weather is old weather. What’s the use of changing to a few new images?

9.

It is easy to find beautiful lyricism, wonderful imagery, and even poems with a certain depth from today's poems, but it is necessary to find a poem that is a completely personal and fresh experience. But it’s even harder.

In our poetry writing, the repetition rate of individuals is too high, and the repetition rate at the level of the entire poem feels a bit like plagiarism. Therefore, we have quite a few poets who pass the language test, but what they write is mediocre. The problem may lie here. Good poetry is written by me. But the hand must be poisonous and skillful.

(Unfinished, to be continued...)