[mindcandy]

I think the two of us are on opposite sides of the "These elements include:" list :)

"Laundry to do..." is a trauma dump for pretty much everyone in this third decade of 24/7 local/global disaster reporting. It's the opposite of a unique perspective. But, it's nice to see the common vent presented in a thoughtful way instead of the daily routine of "Everyone holding it in and a few people explosively word-vomiting frustration."

And, I don't need rigid structure, impressive vocab or flowery images to appreciate a message. I'm good with it just putting me in a moment. Feeling it. Taking a breath and exhaling "yessssss......"

[milesrout]

>"Laundry to do..." is a trauma dump

This used to be called a whinge. It wasn't celebrated. I wrote out a longer reply but ... idk, I'm astonished at the idea that that "poem" is "presented in a thoughtful way" instead of being "explosive word vomit" when "explosive word vomit" is, as yet, the most accurate three-word description of it I have seen so far. And the idea that the "daily routine" is "Everyone holding it in" is just mad. I can see why people say we exist in a post-fact world where people are speaking past one another. From my perspective nobody has held it in less than people today, over matters so trivial and misunderstood. People cry on Twitter over someone not wearing a mask on public transport, yet people went to the trenches and saw 90% of the male inhabitants of their village killed in front of them and held it together for King and country, went back home and lived normal lives. And the ones that wrote poetry about it wrote actual poetry, good poetry. Not this tat.

>And, I don't need rigid structure, impressive vocab or flowery images to appreciate a message. I'm good with it just putting me in a moment

That doesn't make it a poem!

[mindcandy]

We're getting warmer.

Back in the days of king and country, people went through all that, went home, and some lived normal lives. A whole lot hid in that trauma from the neighbors and instead took it out on their families because it wasn't acceptable to let it out to anyone else. Everything was "great". That's how it's remembered decades later. That’s how we got a lot of boomers raised by dads who never got therapy.

Recently, in the days of plague, while millions actually suffered and died, a person in a million cried out online about masks. That's 350 a day in the US alone. And, everyone around the world got to watch. How it's remembered today is every one of us saw at least one of them break down and it still sticks with us all.

> This used to be called a whinge. It wasn't celebrated

And, this piece certainly is not a celebration.

The difference between a whinge and a trauma dump is significant here. You should whinge with your buddies occasionally. Not so much you become annoying. Trauma should only be dumped on people who are professionally prepared to help you through it. But, a whole lot of people don’t find prepared help for a whole lot of reasons. Instead they dump it on unprepared strangers. Frequently. Randomly. Commonly. Thus, the term.

> "explosive word vomit" is, as yet, the most accurate three-word description of it I have seen so far.

A trauma dump is usually explosive word vomit. Random chain of thought. But, consider the possibility that this piece was crafted carefully. I know it’s easy to dismiss out of hand. But, try. Why is each sentence there?

> That doesn’t make it a poem!

I’ll grant there is not a lot of structure to be found here. It’s free verse without the line breaks. Not really prose. It’s not telling a story. There’s a beginning. There’s a state of frustration, compassion, boredom, despair, and a loop back to the beginning. Over and over. For decades and counting. That’s the structure. It’s no iambic pentameter. But, it’s something.

But, impressive vocabulary and flowery visuals? Really? I’m going to assume you are flexible there and don’t require a high school English class interpretation of poetry. As called out in the article.