Open Question: Why do most poets think uber-complexity makes their poetry better?!?

After commenting on a set of poems earlier I thought about this and thought it was something worth addressing. [ Yes I am copy/pasting part of my answers lol ] A lot of poets out there IMO need to ease up on the enigmatic style and overuse of complex words. Most readers don't want to read poetry which requires them to open a dictionary several times or to read poetry which is so enigmatic, the reader must "Decode" it's meaning through deep analysis. Face it, if people have a difficult time understanding your poetry, not many people are going to like it. Not everyone has a high IQ and can understand the term "My Estranged Deviant Companions". Where other simpler variations of that line would be more acceptable to the average IQ. I once saw quote on Allpoetry.com that said something along these lines "It is unnecessary to use a complex word where a simpler one would suffice". Not only does overly complex words turn people away but being enigmatic and overly metaphoric too. For instance the line. "Orbs of lightning with dashes of beautiful obsidian. Like blades of grass on the horizon of twin suns. They flicker in the awe of them. " Those metaphors are speaking of beautiful eyes with a gorgeous set of black eyelashes. Did you figure that out? No, I bet you were tricked into picturing a black sunset with wavy blades of grass mirrored by a lake. Or perhaps even several other possibilities. Because obsidian is a black glassy rock, most people don't know what obsidian is, so why use it? Why not just say black or dark? This is what being overly-metaphoric leads to. Almost every non-poetic readers don't care for that nice of poetry whether you like to admit it or not. That is what I like to call "Jigsaw poetry" and I personally don't care for it myself. There is nothing wrong with saying. "A set of beautiful flowing eyes Black lashes like blades of grass Flickering in awe of them" It makes your poetry no less powerful than if you used the complex variant stated earlier. So why do this? Does it effect your expression THAT much to use words the average person doesn't know? To confuse people? I understand that Poetry is expression in words and nothing more. But once you go public with your poem hoping to receive good reviews your subject to whether or not it is enjoyable to the average person. In other words, if the poem is meant to only make sense to you or a tiny audience, it's pointless to ask the opinions of the public.

10 Mar 2010, 4:07 pm | click here to view more