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7th April 11:00am
admin DU Webmistress

Poet of the Week: cloventongue89
poetry 1017
Continuing our mid-January Poet of the Week catch up with Cloventongue89! A fairly recent member of Deep Underground Poetry who has already cataloged an impressive number of poems. Cloventongue89 is also a spoken word artist, who can be found performing at open mic nights.

Why did you choose Deep Underground Poetry?

I used to write strictly on my blog for not knowing of very many avenues to share my work then found out about createspace.com which is a self publishing resource for authors to realize the dream of having their name on a book cover with free distribution resources available. After I realized that endeavor (several times over) I started to cultivate quite a few poetic journals that I had a bit of trouble marketing even to this day for a lack of exposure. I perform live quite frequently at the Mercury Café which is a place here in Denver, Colorado that hosts an open mic on Friday night as well as a slam poetry event every Sunday night. As I’ve realized these small scale dreams I’ve been seeking to expand my horizon branch out and associate with others of mutual interest in an art form I feel is way underrated. That’s when I stumbled across the poetry group on Facebook called Poetry Planet and have since been included in Real Vision Aspirant Writers and Poetry In The Blood. Though while writing on various prompts posted in Poetry Planet I befriended a very talented writer named Gigi Lee (OxyMoronicMe) who had joined Deep Underground Poetry sometime prior and thought my stuff might do well in the competitions.
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Do you think social media contributes to the well-being of poetry?

I had to stop myself from saying too much in response to the first question to say more in regards to the rewarding aspects of social media in association with poetry. As I illustrated in the reasons I joined Deep Underground Poetry, you can really see how an intricate web of connections can be forged in the mutual associations of friends and websites you find online. That having been said I feel not only does social media contribute to the well being of poetry but is essential to bringing it into a realm where the platform becomes more evident despite the irony we still share our work in a website referenced as “Underground.” I guess it’s true, simply for the fact that it took me so long to find out about it, though I’m uncertain as to when it started. Anyway, as far as offering more of my own insight on social media’s contribution to the well-being of poetry, I think there are friends and poets I might have never heard of had it not been for this online resource. The friendships forged and the opportunities presented from the possibility of writing lyrics for music down the line and collaborations with people like Mikaila a.k.a. AtoMikbomb, Gigi Lee as I formerly mentioned, and even Jo Wiggins (who I think is on DUP though I can’t remember her user name if so); basically what I’m trying to say is that I wouldn’t trade this path in my writing career for the world, simply for the fact that I discovered my world online and the direct interaction I feel is key to not only the well-being but survival of poetry at least for me. While I understand people can write and exclusively reveal poems to few, I’m more of the persuasion that if I couldn’t share what I have to say and didn’t have an audience, I would still probably write but would not be nearly as satisfying.
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Who is/are your greatest poetic inspiration/s?

My greatest inspirations are most likely a list that would take a while to really think about but my favorites may not be as “writer like” of me to say when I don’t automatically rummage through the likes of Edgar Allen Poe, Emily Dickenson, or Walt Whitman, but tend to gravitate to the less romantics in regards to the more modern works of lyricists that I respect tremendously and drastically impacted my way of writing and subject matter amidst defining my own voice. I grew up listening to Demon Hunter and appreciated the front man’s (Ryan Clarke) way of saying things and the bleaker imagery associated with what I felt pushed the boundaries of what society might deem more cookie cutter “Christianity” by social definitions and miss-associations of Sunday School conditioning and pew marketed conformity. Between Demon Hunter, Underoath, Haste The Day and so forth, I girder quite a bit of heavier influence from the lyricists in each and is definitely I think evident in the way I write in some way, especially as I started writing in high school following my dad’s affair and the way my world was turned upside down from having parents well respected in our church circle to feeling a bit lopsided when he left, due to the instability of a torn identity between whether I reflected my mom’s more integral qualities or my dad’s modeled way of compromising for self gain. Unfortunately I think I’ve tended to the end of at times feeling fated as being like my father who doesn’t even talk to me anymore.
I know I got a bit off track with that bit of self-reflection but for me poetry, emotion, journaling and so forth, is as natural as the bloodline that inspires it. So when talking of the artists that influence it I think you can’t help but associate those songs or albums with what I was going through at the time and thus comes as a package deal when speaking of why the darker tones of the music drew me in. Along with the few I’ve listed I would say the ones that inspire me the most recently are a very short list of 4, from the band Showbread featuring Joshua Porter (Dies) as the lead singer who influenced some of my less than main stream views on the church in relation to politics and government, to Silent Planet featuring Garrett Russell as the lead singer who influenced my take on how to illustrate even an alternative mental paradigm through which one may perceive the world, Norma Jean (Cory Brandon) who influenced me from way back when they first started with a different lead singer (Josh Scogin) and the way their lyrics are so abstract that it not only causes you to think philosophically about what they are saying but even can paint pictures of surrealist imagination for me, and last but certainly not least a more recent up and coming even established artist Levi The Poet who writes in ways I can only dream of, but really just performs and commits to memory novels of poetry. The only other person I forgot to mention that is certainly worth highlighting in this list is Mikaila Van Otten (AtoMikbomb).
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What inspires you personally to write? How important is the accessibility of meaning?

I’ve already kind of spoiled some of what I could say in response to what inspires me to write but I guess if I were to really put it all in a nutshell, not only would I note family issues which obviously is quite typical in poetry, but spiritual beliefs that even challenge the westernized view of Christ, lust being as I’ve struggled with a pornography addiction for years, being diagnosed bi-polar and the way I guess I almost feel that is a result of my meditations being of a more depressing nature and being divided against my conscience when it comes to ways I fall short as a believer as well as being conflicted in who I am supposed to be when so much of our identity in the eyes of self-perception is developed in light of who our parents are, and of course everyone should chime in on the political affairs that so taint our Facebook feeds if for no other reason than for me, to tolerate seeing it all the time – like if you can’t beat them join them, then upset their paradigm. The last emphasis in my writing would be the muddied journals of a practically non-existent love life and the unavailable teasing of discontented house wives that find their conscience after they’ve betrayed it to their emotional pandering in the fantasy of a linguistic romance that never truly was, just dreamt of (though even that is a reflection of lust at heart and not something I’m too particularly proud of just something I reference as I am an open book that can relate to the frailty of what we all can struggle with from time to time in some regard). Apart from that, just the overall unrequited rhetoric lined of loneliness and failed attempts at knowing what true love is in light of a full-fledged relationship. All of this I suppose contributes back to the fear of ending up like my father and the struggles of a heart divided against the Spirit in the duality that is the dark and lighter sides of, Cloven.
Other miscellaneous subjects would be in regards to my younger brother’s drug addiction that I can relate to in the idea of having a life controlling habit to self-medicate or even tributes I’ve written for those I care about, my mom, friends in the hospital and so forth.
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Should one have to work hard to solve the poem?

I think that whether or not one should as you put it “solve the poem” is all relative to the writer’s intent and when shared, how he or she may want that specific piece to read and what it might say about them. I think vague generalities that hit home or even more specific yet nameless verses are reserved yet relatable enough that they can be universal, simple, yet deeply profound in the phrasing. When it comes to more philosophical or just make you think kind of poems, I enjoy utilizing quite a bit of imagery to illustrate a point I leave more or less open to personal interpretation and how it relates to the reader. At the same time as I’ve forgotten to answer part two of the last question I enjoy when someone prods for what a certain poem I wrote is about and giving context through which to frame even other works that may relate to the subject. There are some I enjoy expounding upon and others I think not really meant to solve as you say, but reside in the brokenness of it and let it inspire others like a timed release or the seedling of an idea slowly germinating in the back of their mind till it produces something similar, but in their own voice, or completely unrelated, just a thought that resonated from the spark of something I said. When it comes to the accessibility of meaning I like to be available to my “followers” and offer any insight on my words or review even something they may ask my opinion on, though it’s hard to cut past flattery and tell some of them I think their stuff is rubbish to be so blunt, but nevertheless I value the thoughts of others and think there’s other ways of putting things to add depth that doesn’t sound quite so elementary (I’m sure many may say the same of mine). At any rate, I’ve published books where I’ve included quite a bit of background of what was going on at the time to enhance the understanding of it, but recently haven’t, perhaps due to the fact that the other titles that do, may offer insight into those that don’t. Really I don’t think you have to know the history or what it means to appreciate what the writers work means to you, but context is for the diehard fans which is why it can really only be found in the books themselves (apart from an interviewers questionnaire that briefly summarizes some of it).
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Why do you recommend Deep Underground Poetry?

I think upon reading the answers for other questions up to this point is pretty evident in the reward I feel DUP has been to me and why I would recommend it. Though I guess if I were to give a short answer I would just reiterate all in two words, friendship and exposure – connect with others and get known.

https://www.facebook.com/DUpoetry/posts/10155876785203665

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/cloventongue89/
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4th April 1:26pm
admin DU Webmistress

Poet of the Week: anna_grin
poetry 1002
Continuing our January Poet of the Week catch up, we have for you none other than Anna Grin! With us since 2013, she comes and goes, and drops poems like bombs into our hearts and souls. Ever the wordsmith, Anna has a way of making all of Deep Underground Poetry stop and say "Well, there you have it!", with her wit, insight and sucker-punch dark, dry humor.

Why did you choose Deep Underground Poetry?

a man in a strange hat called abracadabra headhunted me from another poetry site, which i cant remember the name of right now. a lesser site. a weaker collection of misfits. i was having a hell of a self-important time over there, but since i moved here i never made myself too comfy. i've been 3 people so far. or is it 4?
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Do you think social media contributes to the well-being of poetry?

i don't know, let's ask poetry
- poetry says it feels fine
(not sure i would trust it, tbh, but im not the one to give a full evaluation)
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Who is/are your greatest poetic inspiration/s?

i'm going to be a sad sack and say the poets on here... some that only stayed a while, some that are coming back, some that i don't know where they went. some who are still here. they know who they are. and mania rosen from charlotte nc who taught me how to crit and is not here
can't knock a bit of sylvia plath tho
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What inspires you personally to write?

i had my tarot read at the end of last year by a friend and it told me the driving force in my work is the devil. hail satan i guess
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How important is the accessibility of meaning? Should one have to work hard to solve the poem?

well you see poems are like nuts.
some people are allergic.
no, ok. sometimes you buy a packet of nuts and they are ready to eat and are covered in sugar and are very nice. sometimes you're alone in the woods and you think you can hear a bear even tho there are no bears in england so maybe its a murderer, but youre starving and you find some nuts and they might be poisonous but you eat them anyway.
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Why do you recommend Deep Underground Poetry?

fun, free and accessible. full of looney tunes and oddsbodkins, but pretty well clear of racists and perverts. actually there are a lot of perverts. but as far as i know they aren't predators, and if they were, ML would bash their c*ck to smithereens with a baseball bat.

https://www.facebook.com/DUpoetry/posts/10155845653098665

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/anna_grin/
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1st April 9:49pm
admin DU Webmistress

For all my Easter bunnies...
poetry 996
Whether you're celebrating the traditional meaning of Easter, or stuffing your face with chocolate eggs, we have a section for that now...

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/Easter/

While we're on the subject of themes, we have over 3000 poems now with themes tags!

There are currently 264 themes, and around half of those have listing pages launched already! You can find them here:

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/

As ever, more cool stuff is on the way...
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Edited 28th March 9:13pm
admin DU Webmistress

New Feature: Forum Image Uploads
You can now upload an image to a forum post, choose full edit options from the form at the end of a thread. I know this is something people have been requesting for ages!

What about existing images?
Existing images (added using [img] tags) will still be displayed if they can be loaded over a secure connection, basically if the URL begins with https:// otherwise they will be shown as a link, rather than an image. If you try to add new images using this tag, they will be posted as a link, rather than an image.

Why has this been changed?
Since DU Poetry is loaded over https, we don't want to load content from other (unverified) sources which is not encrypted. Also, to restrict images to a maximum of one per forum post, to ensure page load speed is not adversely affected by lots of images.

Where has the preview button gone?
I've streamlined the forum posting system, removing the ability to preview a post. This was mainly done because it wasn't compatible with the image uploader (web browsers don't allow uploaded files to be accessed via the back button). If you're not happy with your post, you can still edit it after it's been submit.
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26th March 1:18pm
admin DU Webmistress

Poet of the Week: rabbitquest
poetry 972
Our very own Easter bunny, also our first Poet of the Week catch up from 2018, it's rabbitquest! A member of Deep Underground Poetry since 2012, rabbitquest's writing is insightful, thought provoking and often has a generous sprinkle of sarcasm thrown in.

Why did you choose Deep Underground Poetry?

Dup chose me.
It was a dark and stormy night.
The rain began to fall.
Quick, over there!
A small outcropping.
Well look a this. A cave.
Whats in the cave? Dup droppings.
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Do you think social media contributes to the well-being poetry?

I think the well, being poetry contributes to social media.
More people are texting visual poetry
In significantly higher percentages
than they used to texting photos of their Gentiles.
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Who is/are your greatest poetic inspiration/s?

The Deep Underground Poetry Web Mistress
who makes this happens.
In times past, Emily dickenson had to
wait till she was deceased before she
could get her poems out there.
This knowledge of website creation
is not an everyday person can do it.
So this is a grand experiment
in the course of humanity,
or one small part of it,
where we experimentally can be
all that we want to be,
in perfect anonimity if desired,
and then can explore people,
places and things.
Over the years we have seen unique
behaviors amongst the members,
and how to go phorward has expressed
itself in the creations of the new concepts
such as 'groups' , and just so that this is
not all happening at the bottom of a wishing well,
where the only communication to the outside world
is a frog croaking heard by a child
at the top who throws a penny in the...
well, ...
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What inspires you personally to write? How important is the accessibility of meaning?

The accessibility of meaning is that the
meaning is fallible to be accessible.
Personally, writing inspires me.
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Should one have to work hard to solve the poem?

Rather the Poem should solve You, in its created inception,
if the poet then returns to her poem, he will find it a strange
echo of preocuppations, and presuppositions, which immedietly
calls for much tinkering and adjustments until the poet is solved.
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Why do you recommend Deep Underground Poetry?

I often recommend Deep Underground poetry to a few people.
My spouse, who I hid itinially from, now she often asks,
'so what is your latest writes?"
(Thanks so much! )
So much thanks,
Sometimes we Thank only so much
Thank you,
God Speed and ONward and DUPward.

https://www.facebook.com/DUpoetry/posts/10155808227713665

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/rabbitquest/
 3
21st March 12:12pm
admin DU Webmistress

Poet of the Week: runaway-mindtrain
poetry 956
Continuing our Poet of the Week catch-up with runaway-mindtrain, a member of Deep Underground Poetry since July 2017, who has found a place for his writing in the dark corner of DU.

Why did you choose Deep Underground Poetry?

I noticed a link...I had writings and lyrics that friends had read over the years... and had told me to publish... but I had only wrote them for the most part as song lyrics...to possibly use in music...after reviewing this site...I found it to be a wonderful place for such and have grow in the last few months in my writing and knowledge of modern writers...we have so many talented wordsmiths here in the underground...I have been met with nothing but warmth and digital embraces ever since...
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Do you think social media contributes to the well-being poetry?

In the sense that original writings can be displayed and commented upon...that part is very useful as a tool for the expression of art...this is the only site that I use for such...other than music uploads to youtube....I find most social networking to be a sub-standard form of communication though...
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Who is/are your greatest poetic inspiration/s?

Everything in life seems to come out in art...but I love Plato, Dante, Rumi and Poe...modern lyricist like Geezer Butler, Neil Peart and Dylan...as a child I always liked the little poem at the beginning of the Underdog cartoon...my first realization of a rhyme.. as well as most of the schoolhouse rocks tunes...
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What inspires you personally to write? How important is the accessibility of meaning?

My need to balance internally is the main driving force...a lot of my spirituality and philosophy comes out in writings here...I have a love of history that constantly comes up in conversation and falls into rhymes...like all living things...we are meant to fruit...here at the DUP the poetic fruit is not forbidden...and so the meaning of our lives can be seen in many forms...life has purpose and so meaning is it's twin...
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Should one have to work hard to solve the poem?

Some writers say things must come quickly...while other chip away at the art for decades...in the end it only matters that you have expressed yourself and hopefully that expression can help someone else in someway... but we can never know the full effect of our actions or art...
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Why do you recommend Deep Underground Poetry?

I wholeheartedly recommend this poetic home...this has been a wonderful and loving experience for me meeting, reading, commenting and conversing with artist here...I continue to tell my musician friends to present their work here...I feel it is a place for souls of all types to come together in love to express themselves...self expression is needed in our modern world...DUP is a tonic for the soul in need...

https://www.facebook.com/DUpoetry/posts/10155802061288665

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/runaway-mindtrain/
 9
Edited 21st March 11:41pm
admin DU Webmistress

Browse by #Theme
In case you were wondering what the point of #themes were, you can now browse poems by theme from the main poems page... yay!

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/

This page allows you to reach the most popular themes directly, and further browse to see all available themes. Some theme tags are awaiting more poems, but their pages will become available soon.

Sorting filters (like we have for the old categories) will be added to theme pages further down the line once we have more poems tagged.

How can you help?
Support this project by tagging your back catalogue of poems with themes. Why not also tag the poems you love - those on your reading list! You can also tag random poems by using the link on your reading challenges page:

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/reading-challenges/

P.S. I'll stop going on about themes soon, I promise!
 7
Edited 21st March 11:41pm
admin DU Webmistress

#Theme Explorer
By popular demand I have just launched a Theme Explorer. This is a way to browse themes to add. Click on the button Help Me Find Themes on the poem submission page.
 7
8th March 3:02pm
admin DU Webmistress

See all #themes
By popular request, you can now see the complete list of active themes here:

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poems/themes/

There's also a button to that page on the main "poems" page.

I've grouped the themes together, as best as possible, under headings for easier reading.

What happens next?

I'll be linking up the listing pages for each theme very soon, so the buttons will become clickable.


 8
7th March 3:11pm
admin DU Webmistress

#themes update
You can now add themes to other members poems, if you want to take part in the tagging challenge go to your reading challenges page:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/reading-challenges/

If you don't want other people tagging your poems, you change your preference here:
https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/settings/

Hold tight for more #theme updates this week...

 5
Edited 21st March 11:42pm
admin DU Webmistress

About those #themes...
poetry 904
The time is now.

I've just made it mandatory to add at least one #theme when you make a new submission. Drafts do not require any.

More info on #themes here:

https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/groups/dispatch-box/discussion/900/
 23
Edited 2nd March 3:43pm
admin DU Webmistress

New Feature: #themes
What are #themes?
Themes are keyword tags (similar to hashtags) which describe what a submission is about, for example love or nature or it's writing style, for example ShortStory or parody . Themes help readers find poems about specific subjects, places or emotions.

Why do we need them?
The current poem categories are OK, but could do with some improvement. There are often posts in the suggestions forum asking for new categories. However, the more categories we have, the harder it can be for people to pick just one for their submissions. Themes are more flexible, there are many more different choices and you can add up to five themes to each submission.

Themes will also provide a new way to search poems, you'll be able to find poems about something specific, without the poem needing to contain that specific word.

How many themes are there?
I've worked hard on this, and in the end I came up with just over 200 themes, and over 850 synonyms for those themes. There's going to be lots of great themes which I haven't thought of, so I've provided a Suggest Theme button on your poem pages.

How do I add themes?
You can add themes when you submit a poem, or edit a draft. For poems which have already been posted, you can add and edit themes on the poem's page.

Who can add themes?
At the moment only a poem author can add themes to their submissions. However, I will be relaxing this next week, to allow all members to add themes to poems, whether they wrote them or not. The author will receive an alert notification when someone else adds themes to their poems. You can opt out of this by choosing "Only Me" on your settings page: https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/settings/

What happens to all the poems without themes?
It would be great to get themes on all the poems we have here at DU Poetry, but we have a lot of poems, so this could take a while! To encourage the community to help out, I've created two new reading challenges: https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/reading-challenges/

When will themes replace the categories?
I'm not sure, probably not for a while. It's going to take time to add themes to lots of poems. In the meantime, once a particular theme has enough poems tagged with it, the theme hashtag button will become active. This means you'll be able to view the page with matching submissions.

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