Poetry and Prose

A friend of mine was recently told she should stay clear of poetry and write fiction only. It was a prestigious literary editor that made the observation.

My friend's poetry wasn't making sense to anyone.

But I don't think she should give up on poetry. If it doesn't make sense, it probably means she was being abstract, instead of using concrete images. That's all. She can learn to use concrete images.

Poetry is a craft. It can be learned. I hate people who say give up instead of learn.

Mind you, I'm in limbo right now. In the last week, I got two rejections from literary magazines. One with a penciled note saying: "Interesting poems. Try us again later." And the other was a half page typed letter saying: "This is usable material. Now here's my critique..."

While those are better than your standard form rejections, it's still no publication.