"Cheer up, love, it might never happen!" - a challenge

Not art-related in the visual sense, more in the literary sense.

Why is barely anybody happy anymore when they write poetry? I've always been aware of the existence of sad and dark poems, I used to write a few myself when I was about 13 and sadness is of course a human emotion that needs to be expressed - but my problem is with the lack of happier poetry. Heck, even humorous poetry (of all different types of humour) is an absolute gem to read when I find it. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

I'm not necessarily on about published works, I'm more on about the poetry I see fellow forum-members* writing or occasionally classmates'** poetry back in high school. I'd say about ... 85% of the forums I've visited have had a writing or poetry thread, if not a subforum dedicated to it. And in those threads, about nine out of ten (more or less, depending on the place) poems have been on the huge dark deep abyss of your tormented soul.

I'm aware that many of the forums I visit have teenage members, and being a teenager - especially your early and mid teens - is a real rollercoaster. One moment you're in the sky, on top of the world, then you swoop right down into a pile of proverbial festering cow manure. That cute boy turning you down for the upcoming prom does honestly seem like the worst problem in the world at that time and it's only in retrospect you realise how trivial that issue really was. I don't deny it's a difficult time, and letting it out is a healthy thing to do (not through self-harm, I hasten to add, self-harm is never a good thing).

But you can write happy or funny poetry too. And ... that'll probably cheer you up a lot more than writing weepy stanzas. All you have to do is give it a try. See, I'm not just here to moan, I'll give you all a challenge. I'm certainly going to do it - and to you, the reader, I challenge you to do it too.


Pick somewhere, anywhere, a comfortable environment. Your favourite chair at home in your pyjamas, a cafe in town, the park, a little place where you can relax.

Write a piece of prose or a poem, about a side of A4 paper (more if you'd like, but certainly no less than half a page). This piece doesn't have to be humorous (if you do though, you get extra points) but it does have to be optimistic. Imagine a scene in your head, or draw inspiration from things around you.

When you've done, you can post them in response to this thread, in your own thread, in your DeviantART, on your blog, send it to your friends ... anything! All that matters is that you do it.


If I'm wrong and it doesn't cheer you up in the slightest, I cheerfully admit defeat. Look on the bright side - if you usually write the less-happier stuff, at least you gave something new a shot. Trying new things prevents us from going stale.

Now do it. If you're on summer break and have no plans, you have no excuses.



~ Lishie (I challenged Blake and Rizumu to do this too!)


* - NOT anybody or any forum in particular, just a general thing I've noticed. Please do not turn up on my doorstep clamouring for my head on a pike. :3

** - No, it's not anybody particular there, either!

I don't like "big" poems.

More words =/= better!

Miniar Wrote:I don't like "big" poems.

More words =/= better!

Write it in larger letters, then. <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s -->



~ Lishie

Most poetry posted online is flat out unreadably terrible, and the utter lack of skill of the angsty teenagers writing it is the reason why <!-- s --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s -->

A lot of my favourite poems are very happy indeed - best example is probably In Memoriam, an epic written over years (or was it decades?) dealing with grief, losing faith, utter despair, and the general impossibility of going on with life . . . only to eventually come to the conclusion that life is actually pretty damn awesome.