Has anyone else noticed that it seems that the majority of poets out there in today's circuit, tend to have similar, if not, identical themes in the poems they write?
Such as the, 'My childhood was way worse than yours!!' theme,
or 'I'm much more of an alcoholic/junkie/fuck up than you will ever be, or ever aspire to be'.
For example(I'll whip something up right now, because it's easy, and it flows, yo:D) "did some speed, fucked some bitch in the backseat of a friends car in the parking lot at Wal-Mart, after that, went to a bar, the Black Lab, got drunk, fucked another bitch, and loaded my gun in the headlights of the car outside of my wife's house, just another day, and oh yeah, I can drink you under the table"
It seems to me that it has become a trend to be MORE extreme than the next.
To be MORE grittier, MORE crazier, and as brutally honest(or fake) as possible, even if it IS complete fiction, than the next poet.
On the flip side, the trend of being as cryptic and as surreal as possible seemed mighty big in the 20th century, as well.
With that being said, a lot of these 'tough guy poets' are good writers, by nature. No doubt about that.
The poems are sharp, visceral, and quick.
Personal preference, I like that style, as opposed to the other extreme where a lot of the other poets will hide behind a foggy wall of adjectives, obscure metaphors and hallucinogenic imagery, similar to the 20th century surrealist poetry movement(though I like a few of those guys as well, when it's done right, IMHO).
The only poet that I am aware of, that created an eloquent balance of day-to-day reality with a pinch of surrealism, was Buk.
I've rifled through dozens of online poetry zines and forums, and a staggering amount of these contemporary poets write poems that read like the lyrics to some Eminem song...without the rhyming, of course.
The whole 'I'm hardcore and a hard core alcoholic' syndrome is just simply boring and flat.
I drink almost everyday when I don't have a hangover, but I try to refrain from writing about it, because it's been exhausted to death.
Same thing goes with the whole 'junkie/rehab' memoir/poetry shtick.
Anyway, just wanted to get some opinions from the fabulous folk here, and see if you guys/gals noticed this epidemic.
Or maybe it's just me, which is usually the case.
Such as the, 'My childhood was way worse than yours!!' theme,
or 'I'm much more of an alcoholic/junkie/fuck up than you will ever be, or ever aspire to be'.
For example(I'll whip something up right now, because it's easy, and it flows, yo:D) "did some speed, fucked some bitch in the backseat of a friends car in the parking lot at Wal-Mart, after that, went to a bar, the Black Lab, got drunk, fucked another bitch, and loaded my gun in the headlights of the car outside of my wife's house, just another day, and oh yeah, I can drink you under the table"
It seems to me that it has become a trend to be MORE extreme than the next.
To be MORE grittier, MORE crazier, and as brutally honest(or fake) as possible, even if it IS complete fiction, than the next poet.
On the flip side, the trend of being as cryptic and as surreal as possible seemed mighty big in the 20th century, as well.
With that being said, a lot of these 'tough guy poets' are good writers, by nature. No doubt about that.
The poems are sharp, visceral, and quick.
Personal preference, I like that style, as opposed to the other extreme where a lot of the other poets will hide behind a foggy wall of adjectives, obscure metaphors and hallucinogenic imagery, similar to the 20th century surrealist poetry movement(though I like a few of those guys as well, when it's done right, IMHO).
The only poet that I am aware of, that created an eloquent balance of day-to-day reality with a pinch of surrealism, was Buk.
I've rifled through dozens of online poetry zines and forums, and a staggering amount of these contemporary poets write poems that read like the lyrics to some Eminem song...without the rhyming, of course.
The whole 'I'm hardcore and a hard core alcoholic' syndrome is just simply boring and flat.
I drink almost everyday when I don't have a hangover, but I try to refrain from writing about it, because it's been exhausted to death.
Same thing goes with the whole 'junkie/rehab' memoir/poetry shtick.
Anyway, just wanted to get some opinions from the fabulous folk here, and see if you guys/gals noticed this epidemic.
Or maybe it's just me, which is usually the case.
