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From: will.dockery@gmail.com (W.Dockery)
Newsgroups: alt.arts.poetry.comments,rec.arts.poems
Subject: Re: I Met A Girl / Will Dockery
Date: Sat, 15 Feb 2025 20:53:54 +0000
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On Sat, 15 Feb 2025 19:46:14 +0000, HarryLime wrote:

> On Mon, 10 Feb 2025 6:00:02 +0000, Will-Dockery wrote:
>
>>> HarryLime wrote:
>>> On Sun, 9 Feb 2025 3:47:35 +0000, Will Dockery wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Sat, 8 Feb 2025 20:17:40 +0000, HarryLime wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Will Dockery wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 8 Feb 2025 17:56:44 +0000, HarryLime wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, 7 Feb 2025 15:23:14 +0000, Will Dockery wrote:
>>>> HarryLime wrote:
>>>> Will Dockery wrote:
>
>>>> I Met A Girl
>>>>
>>>> I met a girl
>>>> she came from California.
>>>> It was in a dream
>>>> we knew each other instantly.
>>>> She was a little freckled girl
>>>> from out of
>>>> my high school past.
>>>>
>>>> And she looked up at me
>>>> and talked real spacey.
>>>> I've forgotten her name
>>>> though she told it to me twice.
>>>>
>>>> We talked
>>>> a really detached situation.
>>>> She said years ago
>>>> I was so shy
>>>> she thought I was gay.
>>>> At this point I kissed her
>>>> and put my finger to her hole.
>>>>
>>>> And she looked up at me
>>>> and talked real spacey.
>>>> I have forgotten her name
>>>> though she told it to me twice.
>>>>
>>>> I don't know why it was
>>>> that I would think of her.
>>>> I made a couple of puns
>>>> about her name that made me blush.
>>>> But her softness in tone
>>>> made me feel all right.
>>>>
>>>> All I want to do
>>>> is get in contact.
>>>>
>>>> -Will Dockery / May 8 1982
>>>>
>>>> Good to see....
>>>>
>>>> Thanks again, as I was telling Mummy Chunk, in 1982 when writing these
>>>> poems I
>>>> was highly influenced by 1950s Beat poets and 1980s punk rockers.
>>>>
>>>> So please excuse the foul language.
>>>>
>>>> Referring to a woman's v*gina as a "hole" is considered both
>> offensive
>>>> and misogynistic
>>>>
>>>> That's why I apologized for the foul language in the poem.
>>>>
>>>> But the *language* (the word "hole") isn't offensive
>>>>
>>>> In context it could be to some readers.
>>>
>>> In context of the poem, it is most definitely offensive.
>>>
>>> However, it is offensive for the reasons that I pointed out above.  The
>>> word in and of itself is not offensive.
>>>
>>> Words have very specific meanings, Will.
>>>
>>> You need to learn how to use them correctly.
>>>
>>> When you use a word that doesn't quite mean what you think it means, you
>>> end up saying something that isn't true... or that isn't what you'd
>>> intended to express.
>>>
>>> "Hole" is not an example of "foul language."
>>>
>>> Your use of "hole" in the poem is extremely offensive.  But that
>> doesn't
>>> make it "foul language."
>>>
>>> Foul language is offensive by definition.  However, not everything that
>>> is offensive is considered foul language.
>>>
>>> IOW the words "foul language" and "offensive language"
>> are not the same
>>> thing.
>>>
>>> If I call you a fat, stupid redneck, I am using language to offend you.
>>> "Fat," "stupid," and "redneck" can all be seen
>> as offensive words in
>>> this context.
>>>
>>> However, "fat," "stupid," and "redneck" are
>> not examples of "foul
>>> language."
>>>
>>> Neither is "hole."
>>>
>>> It isn't difficult to learn how to use language correctly.  But you
>>> aren't going to learn it by simply picking it up from experience.  When
>>> you read a word in an article, a book, or a Usenet post, you can figure
>>> out its meaning from its context.  However, this method only provides
>>> you with an approximation of the word's meaning at best.
>>>
>>> The fact that you have learned everything you know about writing from
>>> this method is obvious from your posts.  Apologizing for having used
>>> "foul language" is *close* to being correct.  That is to say, it's
>> close
>>> enough that others can figure out what you actually mean without much
>>> difficulty.
>>>
>>> And while this sort of thing is acceptable in casual, spoken
>>> conversations, it is not acceptable when writing literary works, or
>>> conversing with other writers online.
>>>
>>> If you want to be a writer, you need to learn how to write.
>>>
>>> If you want people to take you seriously in Usenet and other social
>>> media platforms, you need to learn how to write.
>>>
>>> And the only way that you're going to learn how to write is by enrolling
>>> in a series of online courses.
>>>
>>> --
>>
>>
>> Thanks for the advice but I've been writing poetry for over 50 years, so
>> I
>> know what I'm doing.
>
> Obviously


Exactly:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48808396-selected-poems-1976-2019&ved=2ahUKEwiw14igx8aLAxWQLtAFHabxJGIQFnoECCAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3xxyq9fiWP8SIo6KuERr4x

Thanks again for asking, Harry.