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This is my blog (now there is a surprise!). I will be sticking in it poetry, prose, random musings, things that take my fancy and more than likely lots of pictures of cats. I hope you find something to amuse and/or interest you here.

Saturday 26 February 2011

Pain, empathy and being clever.


I woke up early this morning and was feeling okayish. (Look, it is my blog and if I want to invent a word, I will).
Then I read something on Facebook which made me feel sick with misery.  Is this empathy?
Or am I being self-indulgent by appropriating someone elses pain and sorrow?

This also got me thinking at a tangent.  Why do people think it is funny to mock real grief and sorrow if they don't care about what has happened?
Tell your workmates that you parent/partner/child is very ill or badly hurt and most seek to comfort.
Now tell them your pet is hurt or ill.
Someone will say 'just get another one' or make some other 'joke' at your expense.  And people will laugh.
On the radio the other day, there was a vet offering advise to pet owners.  The presenter thought it funny and appropriate to say frequently 'Apart from having it put down, is there a solution?'.
Now why is it funny to threaten someones beloved pet?
Tell a group of people you love cats and someone will tell a story about a cat being terribly hurt, maimed or killed.  Why?  To hurt?  It seems a form of bullying to me.
You see, these stories stick in my brain.  When I am down, they haunt me and I feel sick and miserable.  I hurt to think of the pain and suffering.  And it seems endless.



*********

Off that topic before I spend the rest of the day crying.


I've been reading other peoples poetry a lot recently.
I realise that, however intelligent I am, I am not clever.  Most of it goes straight over my head.  The free verse that most people seem to prefer so often comes across to me as a jumble of adjectives and emotions with no meaning or purpose except, perhaps, to the writer.  Some of it is so tortuous and strained it seems contrived rather than poetic, if you see what I mean.  Yet other people love them.  I must be thick and inartistic.  For me, a poem should say what it means and speak to others clearly.  Some poetry I read I do not enjoy because it is not enjoyable.  It is gut-wrenchingly painful, heartbreakingly sad.  Not enjoyable but beautiful.
My poetry is blunt, to the point and often bitter.  it relects my world view.  But I don't think it is 'clever'.

6 comments:

  1. poetry is supposed to be consice and descriptive. the problem with free flowing poetry is the same problem prose writers get into,both fall in love with the words with little thought as to the impact and rambling they produce.So don't feel bad about enjoying poetry that has concise wording.I love what you write,don't change.

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  2. We lost a golden retriever last year...so I certainly empathize with those who have lost pets..adopted two greyhounds since

    As for the poetry and prose I read others and have no clue...and I'm sure people read mine and have no clue what I'm writing about...but I do believe like any art form it is left up to interpretation...my poems seem strange sometimes...but each one has special meaning...it is much more of a challenge for me to write the joyful stuff rather than the dark...don't know why...but that is an area I need to work on...Writing is an outlet...it is my therapy and I find healing in it...If you ever read something of mine and have no clue ask me I'll be glad to let you know what its about. Have a good day Penny! Be well.

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  3. I can relate to the way people act. They just don't seem to care anymore. Its sad but true. As for the poetry, I just write what's on my heart to write. My number one goal is to put it in a way so everyone can understand the meaning. The difference is I love to write about the joyful stuff. There's a lot of things that I need to work on but I love the challenge.

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  5. I hear you Penny! I have a fur child named Topaz… She has my heart. I cannot understand why anyone would adopt an animal without total commitment to the animal. She is in heart failure, which involves her taking daily medication. Some of our friends and family cannot justify the expense, after all, she is just a dog. She is not just a dog to us, she is part of our family and has been for 13 years.

    As for the poetry, I agree I have trouble grasping a lot of what is written also…I like to be drawn in, not having to stop along the way to decipher, which makes it difficult to understand…
    However, in saying that, there are many different methods, which call for different interpretations.
    I just have not arrived there yet lol!

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  6. I can get very depressed just by thinking about all the suffering in the world. I am somewhat empathic, therefor I suffer when I see others suffer, people and animals alike. I cannot watch cruelty on TV, it even effects me reading about it in a story.

    I cannot stand it when somebody says, "well it is only an animal". Fortunately I have never encountered anybody mocking somebody's pet grief. The people I have met have had understanding about how a pet can become your family member. Sorry you have encountered people of a different kind. I hope they are in minority.

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