Well do you?
Upon reading and re-reading a poem that I have produced- I either 'like' its familiarity or 'like' it because of its now growing 'strangeness'. I wouldn't marry one of my poems- but I sure don't mind flirting with it.
Tommy
PS any that I do not 'like' I fail to turn-up to our next date.

I think I'm a good judge of what's good and what's not... I like some of it.
I much prefer to flirt with other people's poetry... ; )

good question. no i dont. i like it for 5 minutes then get bored much like with men...if my poem stood me up id stalk it x

I like some of my poems more than others. Some I just don't enjoy performing - even though I used to like them.

I like the ideas behind and the emotions running through my poetry - I just think the execution of the words sometimes lets me down. I guess I prefer a poem that isn't perfect but speaks to me more than a poem that is perfect but doesn't though - so yes I like my own poetry :)

I've just realised that my relationship to my poems is very much like my wife's relationship to me. I'm fond of them,always trying to improve them and always disappointed with the results.

Some of my poems will be in my heart forever, others suffer a
short attention span and a few well, obliteration.

Nice one Ray. Like Val, some of my poems are incredibly important to me - beyond 'liking' which is up there with 'nice' as a positive word. Others are OK, I 'like' them and am glad to have written them. Others, I cringe and wonder what I was thinking of.

It has to be a definite no from me Tommy. The older they get the more embarassing they become - a bit like me I guess. The only poem of my own that I'm ever interested in is the one I'm writing or thinking about; once that process is done I'd be happier never to see or hear from them again. It's the process I enjoy, not the product.

Regards,
A.E.

That makes me feel sad Anthony.

Liking one's own poetry is like trying to decide which one of your kids is the best, it's impossible.

Old poems are like old photos, they make you remember a time and a place, a thought good or bad, a feeling.

I do like some of my words but not always the whole pieces.

Nice comment Ray. good thread Tommy, thx for starting. Win x

Err, yeh, I do, most of it I bloody love. Some of it I think is 'okay', some I think is 'good but not great' 1 or 2 very early ones I think are a bit naive and obvious, but on the whole I do like it yes, and some of it I am hugely proud of. And, I like keeping all of them on here, as it's like a record of my entire writing trajectory, and pleases me greatly. This might be because I only started to write in September of 2010 so I'm a complete novice compared to a large amount of people on here, so I still find it amazing that I came up with all these words in this way. I actually hope that I don't become jaded though - I hope I keep the sense of wonder that you get when words throw themselves through the ether, into the top of your head and back out of your mouth and pen, and you sit back and go 'fuck me, that's good' and it feels like it wasn't you writing it.

Probably not very English is it, to admit to loving your own poems, but fuck it, I do :)

Hi Laura. I'm with you on this one I feel as though I'm in the same boat,being new to expressing words etc.
Sometimes I think some of my poems are better to be spoken and others just to be looked at on paper.

I'm with you too. I can't imagine how you would want to share anything if you weren't proud of it in some way. Liking your own poetry doesn't necessarily equate to being blind to its faults. You can still love imperfection - like you love your children, whatever they do wrong.

Mike - same as, some stuff is great on the page but just wouldn't perform very well, and other stuff only comes alive WHEN it's performed :) Nice to write both imo

I think sometimes I am affected by hypergraphia and so write and write and write and while I love the feeling, I am sometimes quite judgemental later and get exhausted through thinking they are just a load of ole crap.
However, I always hold onto the person that I am writing it to at that moment (whether real or imaginary) and give them a nod when I re-read.

I think most of us must do. Why else can you see performance poets recite several of their poems without reference to notes, but can't utter a fucking word of Shakespeare?
As soon as I've written anything I immediately recognise it as the finest stuff ever written by man. Then I post it on WOL. Then I look at it and think, "What a load of shite". I never fucking learn.

Surely the point of writing anything is to "connect" with the
humanity in another, but it's always
satisfying to enjoy the result yourself just as long as it doesn't become a self-delusional ego-trip. In any case of doubt - there's always the "delete" option.

Xxxxxx poem's may appear to be a xxxxness
Bleak, windswept of xxxxxxxx
and Arctic
but upon xxxx and xxxxx
listening
The bleakness
can xxxxxxxxxx be cathartic.

XXXXX's poems are just clap-trap,
As worthless as a cat-flap
To someone who's never owned a cat,
Or wanted to - and that's enough of
that!
(e.g. it's usually in the mind of the beholder - and that includes the writer if the latter has any
talent at all.)

??

well!

!!

Pulling the discussion back into
presumptious reality, I confess to
really liking one of my own poems
- mainly because it was written from
life's experience and a front-rank
British classical composer whose work I admire greatly told me it
reminded him "of music". I cannot
hope for a finer compliment. It is
on WOL and JC was kind about it too
- another welcome encouragment.

this is a good reply M.C. however J.C. can go to the back of the class- RIGHT NOW!

Sorry about that JC - but you have
no need to concern yourself about any dunce's hat! :-)
PS. Are we able to say "dunce" nowadays - or is it verboten under some PC directive?!

Nope! I mean, there are some parts I can stand but when you know deep down that you really haven't tried on a particular poem.. well, it makes me feel that it isn't worth it!

At the end of the day though I guess I'd prefer it if someone said they liked my poetry, rather than me being bombastic about it.

RP - the beauty of writing stuff is that it can be updated as and when
thought necessary - either through
a sudden imspiration or the realisation that something better is
available. I'd love to see some of the original drafts of poems (and song lyrics) that have been successful down the years. I have
kept some of mine and a number make
me wonder what I was thinking of!
But, on the other hand, some have
remained word for word, edited "in
the mind" as they were being written.
When that happens, you somehow know the thing works.