That's not what I meant

Another huge gap between posts, but I've been distracted by life, and also by thoughts about poems and responses on Twitter. This sort of follows on from my previous post, but...

You've written a poem. You know what you meant when you wrote it. You want to share it, so you post it on Twitter. You wait to see what response, if any, you get. 

You get no response - not good. You delete it, go and sit in a corner and cry.

You get a positive response - people 'like' it, or actually say they like it/love it... - good. You think you've got it right.

You get a positive response - but then people say why they like it and you realise they haven't understood it - ie what they say is not what you meant. But that's still ok - right? Because once it's out there, it's up to them to see in it what they see - and they've found something to like in it, so that's good - right?

But then you think some more about what they've said and that it isn't what you meant and you think the reason for that is obviously that you didn't write it well enough to convey what you wanted to say. So that's not good. Because why are you writing it and sharing it if you can't convey what you wanted to say? You have failed.

Or you get one of those ambiguous responses - often characterised by just quoting one of the lines of the poem back at you - without further comment. What does that mean? That was the only line they liked? Did they even like that line? They just can't think of anything to say about the poem, but feel obliged to respond? (And that can so easily become the case on certain forums.)

Or you get a negative response. This is rarer - mainly because you don't go on any forums where this is likely to happen, or have blocked anyone who has responded in this way. (Though the odd backhanded compliment sneaks through.)

And then there is the other side of all this. When you read someone else's poem and you love it. Which of the positive responses above are you going to go for? Go safe with 'love it'? Can't go wrong that way. Or try to say why - and risk doing exactly what you don't want others to do to you - and end up upsetting the person you're trying to praise. Because you haven't got what they were trying to say, or express it badly... So you've failed, again. 

And you don't do negative responses. But then what do you say if you feel obliged to respond to a poem you don't like - quote a line?

Should you be worrying so much? Unless you're super-confident or super-not-bothered, chances are you're going to worry a bit. 

Ah, but those glorious, if less frequent moments, when someone loves your poem and tells you why, and they've seen it how you intended it - and joy abounds! And likewise, when you can do the same for someone else. And because of those moments, you keep trying - both ways. (With the tissues handy for when it all goes wrong.)