first post

What’s up class? I’m Joe, a sophomore… I like to write rhymes.
Im studying psychology right now and I like it because I like learning about the deepest intricacies of the human mind, the ever flowing source of inspirational creativity. I suppose that Hannibal Lecter stuff is pretty cool too, I mean who wouldn’t like to be able to manipulate thoughts and emotions like that?
I’m from Syracuse, New York. Its pretty chill there… I’ve lived there for all of my life so I’m used to the nasty winters that makes Central New York one of the snowiest places on Earth.
Aside from writing, I like making hip hop beats and playing unorthodox sports like ping pong and pickle ball. I love listening to music, all genres, and I like being in the company of my friends when I’m not stressing over school. I used to play football at SLU but I retired.
I’ve had both good and bad experiences getting feedback on my work. I don’t take very well to criticism so often times I feel like no feedback is good feedback, but I suppose I’ve received some good feedback too. The only positive specific I remember is my FYP professor complimenting me on how creative my work was.
Nas is without a doubt the best lyricist in hip-hop. His wordplay and complex rhymes schemes makes him hands down the most clever poet with a mic and a drum loop. Take his album Illmatic for example, regarded by many as the best rap album of all time. He’s famous for saying “I never sleep, cuz sleep is the cousin of death”. Nobody really knows what that means but its aesthetically pleasing to the ear. He is my biggest influence.
What’s good about good poetry? I like when good poetry just flows, when the sequence of words just sounds good even if its nonsensical . What’s good is when you hear a poem and it invokes a certain emotion in you or paints a scene in your head of something specific that would otherwise be unattainable if it were described non-poetically.
What do I hope to learn in this class? I hope to learn to write better poems… Sike. I want to learn what makes a good poem a good poem, what makes a bad poem a bad poem, or even if there is such a thing as a bad poem. I hope to get an enriched education in the art of poetry.