I post poems I write on Facebook. They are up for a few days, then I delete them. Originally, I had thought to try and develop a market for them, but the effort doesn't seem to have born fruit.
However, a few people seem to like them and writing is a hobby of mine.
I am aware that people make assumptions based on what I write, so often I will add a disclaimer at the bottom for clarity sake. For instance, if a poem I post is particularly dark, I may say that it was just developed from an idea that I fleshed out and not due to any circumstances I am going through at the moment.
I don't need people concerned for my state of mental or spiritual health unnecessarily.
A recent poem I posted was titled "Candy" and it basically talked about a girl who used to be more of a friend, but isn't any more and the narrator ends it with calling her "poison Candy." Just a typical jilted lover kind of piece. I am happily married, so it doesn't reflect anything of my life.
I had a Facebook friend named Candi and I placed a disclaimer at the bottom stating specifically that the poem was in no way referring to her. That I was just playing around with an idea.
Her husband messaged to tell me that she was really upset by the poem.
I promptly deleted it and apologized.
He said he appreciated it.
Later, I unfriended him and her. They were people I knew a long time ago and the chances of seeing them again are slim to none. We just don't run in intersecting circles.
But I found myself irritated by the whole thing. It made me wonder about the whole getting offended thing and whether there's any real responsibility by the 'offender' who takes great pains to try and make people understand that they aren't the target. That the target is, in fact, fictional.
The mindset of living as one offended can really stifle expression. And what right do these people have to wreak that kind of oppression?
Welcome to today.
2 comments:
Please continue to write.
My son writes poetry and is a gifted writer. Maybe I feel that way because he is my son. He also writes songs and plays and sings them. Last year we thought we lost our son during a military training exercise. As a mother of 4 sins and to hear your child just went down was heart breaking. My son called from his hospital bed. I fell to the floor my heart dropped. I'm happy to say my baby boy is home and in one peice still. Writing keeps my son going. I also want to thank you for your service too. My son is back in Maine living with his brother. I hope he finds support though the VA and can enjoy his life. Please keep writing you never know how your words can touch someone.
Thank you, Kirstin Davidson-Norwood
Hello Kirstin, I just found out that blogger.com is setting aside comments on blog posts for review before posting them, ostensibly to prevent spam which I appreciate. But I didn't realize it until now. So I accepted your gracious comments and now they are available for all to read. Apologies for any inconvenience. Websites have a way of altering their functionality without warning.
I'm sorry about what your son went through, but glad to hear of his improvement. I stopped using the VA back around 2008. Actually, it was a physician there who told me I no longer needed to make yearly visits if I didn't want to. So it's all been good.
Blessings to you. Jeff
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