If you don't understand a poem...?

I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine who I let critique a couple of my poems. He criticized them for being ambiguous and vague, and offered suggestions of particular lines that he would change. The changes he would have made would make the poems more blunt. How do you feel about poems that you don't understand the first time you read them? I just feel that bluntness can be dry.
If you don't understand a poem...?
To each his or her own! We all have different styles and there is no right or wrong in poetry stylistically speaking.
If you don't understand a poem...?
If i don't understand a poem, I cast it away, and get a new one
If i don't understand a poem th first way through, i read it again



and if i still don't understand it, I'd get rid of it :]



But for you, Try putting some details into the poem to let the reader visualize scenes in their minds using specific words u use.
Poems are not supposed to be understood. They are supposed to be interpreted as one sees them, in other words a poem is what the reader sees it is.
don't let just one person critique your work, after all opinions vary widely amongst the artistic. it is in fact a work of your own so you may want to keep it vague as part of it's appeal. but if you feel it needs more attention then change it as you see fit. don't make it into something that you don't feel comfortable with.
I tried writing poems, and my wife called them %26quot;essays.%26quot;

She come the next day with %26quot;Poetry for Dummies.%26quot; %26lt;}:-})
i like poems that i dont get the first time.

usually it means that there is a really deep, or very good moral in it.



most of the best poets, make poems that you dont get the first time you read them.



in my opinion, thus why they are great.





and i do very much agree with you.

that bluntness can sometimes be dry



however.

some poems i do like straight up.

they seem sweet and genuine.



though, it depends on how well it is written.





hope this helps

XD
I think that you shouldn't change your poems because of one persons opinions. Everyones different and everyone has different likes. And not everyone will understand every poem. A poem is a reflection of YOUR thoughts, feelings, experiences etc. and i don't think it should be changed no matter how much critique it suffers. YOU wrote it and if you dont feel comfortable making changes then dont, if you feel changes should be made then you decide what should be done and which lines to change.
When I don't fully understand a poem I mentally understand it in the back in the back of my mind, but when a poem is blunt I find it boring in a way, even though it means the same thing. Just because you don't fully understand one thing at first doesn't mean it doesn't have any meaning. Also just because one person finds it vague doesn't mean it's incomprehensible by other people(Sorry if that sounded mean to your friend.). Different people experience different things if everyone like only one type of food. Why are their so many different restaurants?



Hope This Helps!
Without seeing the pieces, it is hard to say. Your friend might be right, but on the other hand it is often very rewarding to come to an understanding of a poem after some effort, as this makes it much more personal. However, the poem has to have something about it to make the reader sense that it is worth spending time on, or it will just get thrown aside as Solidsnake says.
Beauty of a poem is that it get a message to you intensely and thoroughly than most of the prose. And it achieves this splendor due to the way of communicating it. It is smooth, lyrical and charming like the soft breeze of morning. It does not speak but is still, inviting. Message has to be clear and consistent but need not be bluntly conveyed in a poem. I agree with you, if the message is not hidden in a manner that makes it almost, disappear.
most poetry is personal emotion draining u r not expected to understand but just imagine what the poet guy/gal had in mind



please read assess HELLO CANADAS CONTRIBUTIONS



JUST IMAGINE CAN YOU ONE



Sitting under an apple tree

Throwing pebbles at sea,

And when she makes me cry,

She actually helps me and makes me try.



When she curses you see,

It is good,she actually nurses me,

And when its all her perspiration,

Friends, for me its only inspiration.



Then I realise how we learn from human face,

And know all about the human race,

And when we know more and more,

Humanity only, benefits ,all for sure.



We are at answers of all Yahoo Q's,

Each failure is like a step for me,

And it helps me go up, step up the ladder,

Then I come up with,if nothing else,

Something you may call poetry,I confess.



Alas its a

Love game, this life,

Full of curiousity and strife,

Yet without the misery,

There could be no comparitive story.

So

Logically,



Between,Astrology BiologyPathology,Geology,Numerology,



and what have you, Mythology.



THE best outcome of all life isPOETRY,

Should we not,rename it as

Poetology?

OH MY LOVING GOD! TWO



Intellectual are my generations'beings,



Greatest curse on present day progeny,



Officious,malicious and mercenary,



Cruel,lascivious,a class of humanity.



This planet they call, a global village



Pray have some sense of privilege,



And upon the pedestal of man's remains



I say,do not make indellible domains,



Of time and space,yet to traverse.



Make not this planet an aliens'retreat,



A symbol of monumental defeat.



Our vision should not blind us,



Our ego should not devour us,



And leave our remains on a river bed,



But make for us a heavenly pedestal, instead.





Just Remember THREE

Rememember that, me is, a girl in me;



we cannot make up our mind,



As hormones play havoc,



When we're in the bind.



We have to still show,love to u we owe,



Or else you won't know,how our hearts' glow,



When we're out and the world is ours,



It is then our better half is yours.



My love, my dear,at that blueish phase endure,



My hand is still there,my touch is yours,



Your smiles are my loving possession,



Your presence is my very own passion.



For ever for me a heart throb,for all years,



I live with yee,remember this will thee.











Priceless Treasure FOUR



I am on the edge of the threshold ,with desire



Where can we alone in this wilderness meet,



As the air perfumes fill my nostrils with love,



As if holding your hands in my dreams,



A one time fantasy, a breath from yonder,



I pick you up, up in the air,



No one ever thought that such would happen,



Until your hands,felt my hands,





Desire spilled from my very being,



Nothing remained but my moisty hands,



As I smelt my palms,your face came up,



From nowhere,as a spring of emotion rose



At once I saw you in front of my eyes emerging,



As if from no where,as you know



It was then that Irealised,



It was u,Dear ROSE.





I AM FIVE



Since I am the cynosure of your eyes,



I am what for many a one cries,



I am your hearts' throb,



Your very very and very own breath ,



Your very blood and sweat,



Your true and very much your vision,



I am what you want me to be ,



A river,a stone, a monument,



Or a real lover at sea.



I am what I am as you already know,



What else you want from me ?



For I am what I am,as far as you



And god, my love can see.



Hope now you will my sole,'heart'



Love, really and truly love me.





Our Apple Tree SIX



Long, long ago my friend did u know ,



The only tree that the we inherited was ,



An apple tree, as it did then,as it does now,



Depicts fruitfullness and human seeds ,



That grow from generation to generation,



And that message did we get and give,



To generation after genaration, humanity,



And today



We are the products of that hidden secret ,



We call,u know what ever it be.



Sitting beneath the apple tree,



Einstein saw the world's most secret vision,



A falling apple to the ground and later



Scientifically,



He created his theory of Relativity.



As he enjoyed the sweetness of the breeze ,



Sitting under the Apple tree,



He created a science, which today is knowledge,



All just sitting below an apple tree.









Unsound Mind SEVEN

do it just as u wanna do

thats fair,

hold the knife and turn him aroud,

thats what u should do,

imperfect folks who accept imperfection

only r perfect but alas,

Just doing what I must do

like one means an affair,

do what u do but do it right,

also take a second chance opinion,

do not rust but only
Firstly-

A poem is meant for interpretation - one person's meaning doesnt have to be another's - ambiguity and vagueness makes this possible



Maybe instead of having bluntness (which, I agree, can make a poem bland and blunt) include specific images? Adding a personal image (i.e., smelling of Mother's pancakes on a gloomy Sunday morning) can add a little groundedness to it without making it definite. Its another thing open for someone's interpretation that maybe grounds it a little bit.