So I wrote a poem..

[Brian37]

Very, very bad poem.

The good thing about art is it is personal and nobody has to give one fuck about critics. You don't like it only means you don't like it.

I have been writing poetry for 20 plus years and long before there was modern internet, I was a member of a local poetry group. Having been literally face to face with groups ranging from 15 to 35 people each monthly meeting, I can tell you, ultimately you cant tell what people like.

Now out of my 700 and growing poems, I will admit not all of them are great, but the thing about writing is you keep doing it, and you will get some that strike a cord. I really cannot stand critics.

My advice to the OP, is don't listen to critics. You will write junk and you will write good stuff people don't like. My attitude is ignore the noise, keep doing it. I treat my writing like photography, I don't worry about the volume, I just keep doing it and some of them will be hits.

It is up to you what you like, do read others and dont be afraid to be your own critic, but also don't let other's baggage be yours. Your life is too damned short to let people whom aren't paying your bills to get to you.  Poetry certainly is not a business you can get rich off of. But it is your own therapy.