# The SDMB Poetry Sweatshop, Jan. 2010 - Anthology thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 17, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327 "2010-01-17T16:58:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327/41 "2010-01-21T03:17:29Z")
The email format was fine. I would insist that the poets give titles to their poems. If they don’t, they should be made aware that you will assign a title that you think is fitting. That way each poem will have a unique “handle” even if the poet’s name is omitted (an approach to which I would not object). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327/42 "2010-01-21T13:02:37Z")
Hey, Emily Dickinson never named her poems…anthologies usually go by the first line when there’s no title, and I’d be fine with that. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327/43 "2010-01-21T15:45:23Z")
I wouldn’t be surprised if the mods would be amenable to stickying the poll thread for a few days. On the subject of excluding authors’ names: why? It’s a quick and easy means of distinguishing poems from each other, and it’s nice to be able to match poems to board members. If someone’s liable to be partisan in their voting, removing the names from the posts won’t stop them–all they have to do is say, “Hey Friend I Want to Vote For, which one did you write?” > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I would insist that the poets give titles to their poems. If they don’t, they should be made aware that you will assign a title that you think is fitting. That way each poem will have a unique “handle” even if the poet’s name is omitted (an approach to which I would not object). That gets a big “no” vote from me. It’s up to the author to title their poem; if they don’t wish to title it, it stays untitled. I don’t think so little of our SDMB members that they can’t look to the upper-right corner of the post containing the poem they like to see what number it is, nor that they can’t look to the bottom of a post to see who wrote the poem, even if it was posted by someone else. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327/44 "2010-01-21T16:03:16Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I wouldn’t be surprised if the mods would be amenable to stickying the poll thread for a few days. Yeah, I’d be happy to sticky it – though I will report that it has been my experience that that sometimes makes the post _less_ visible, since people tend to skip over the stuff at the top of the forum, assuming it’s all boilerplate they’ve seen before. ---
**Author:** ![Woeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Woeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Woeg)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327/45 "2010-01-21T16:04:12Z")
Email reply worked perfectly, I really liked that format. Another “no” vote on forcing titles - some pieces need them, others don’t. I’m also fine with names on the poems - if people are gonna vote for a favorite poet, rather then on the merits of the piece, they are gonna do it and that’s their right - if said poet has other work that has merited such devotion, more power to them! 🙂 And last (though not least!), congrats to Hamster King! I hope it not too uncouth to admit that my own vote was tied between your entry and In Winnipeg’s work - both masterful pieces, but my adoration of history swayed me in IW’s direction. Again, I am seriously impressed by the quality of poets here. Bravo all! ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327/46 "2010-01-21T17:05:43Z")
So, here’s a late entry - his first e-mail ended up in my spam box, so I took the risk and e-mailed him the words anyway. I got this poem 59 minutes later - couldn’t find him as a member, so I told him he should sign up. (I have to remember to say something about SDMB members only for the next one…) He had ‘hamster difficulties’ but he now shows up as having joined after the poll closed, and he asked if I would post his poem. Here it is - I showed my girls fantasia on youtube What else is there? More movie songs please! So I showed them The Sound of Music And thus followed memories too precious:- They laughed out loud at the gazebo scene All conquering love? Ewww kissy kissy! Stop being annoying I sternly told them What? we can’t laugh - when people are romantic?! They cower by my side during the chase Peeking at Hitler’s crony while covering their eyes And after it all we of course have to do the entire sing-a-long do re mi fa so la ti They may soon forget the movies but I - will never forget this jumbled painting of naivete and ridiculousness and dependence and classic childhood - antkam ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327/47 "2010-01-21T17:56:24Z")
Now there’s a good way to join a message board! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327/48 "2010-01-21T18:15:33Z")
> [@Woeg](#): > > And last (though not least!), congrats to Hamster King! I was very impressed that you managed a sonnet! That’s a steep hill to climb in just 60 minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sdmb-poetry-sweatshop-jan-2010-anthology-thread/525327.md?page=2)