Sunday, June 15, 2014

Week # 15 - Eight of Mentors

It's Sunday morning and I'm desperately in need of coffee. A deficiency that I soon plan to correct. But I'm in the studio this morning and I've drawn a new new Poet Tarot card for this week. From the shuffled and fanned out deck I've pulled the Eight of Mentors card.

This card is asking me to take stock in how I provide advise to other poets/artists about their work in critiques offered. It has been a while since I've been especially active in any group critiques and maybe this is telling me something about the lack of this.  I know it's wanting to tell me to be sensitive in any collaborative suggestions of another's work to make certain that  you are not trying to change the author's voice. Let them be true to their own voice. Suggest they look at  things that improve what they are saying but not usurp their message altogether.

When I've done critiques, I don't believe this has been a problem for me. Still, it is goof to again consider the value of what  one poet can offer another when they are revising.

I think that  I need to workshop my own work more. I really stopped doing this when the people all seemed like they were telling me what they though I wanted to hear... "oh that's nice," etc. I'm not a thin skinned person and if I want to know what someone is seeing  or hearing in one of my poems, then I want honesty. I don't expect others to write my work, but if something needs to be tightened or explore saying something a different way, honest is what I want. In the same way that is what I assume they are wanting when reading their work. Suggest, question, but don't usurp the work.

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