How do you critique poems about rejection and love gone wrong?

Question:So many of the poems posted here are filled with agnst and pain over being rejected. Most of them are terrible poems, unworthy of critique, but even the ones that are relatively well written are so raw with emotion that I fear any suggestions would be perceived as heaping abuse on someone already dangerously depressed. How do the rest of you deal with this?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: So many of the poems posted here are filled with agnst and pain over being rejected. Most of them are terrible poems, unworthy of critique, but even the ones that are relatively well written are so raw with emotion that I fear any suggestions would be perceived as heaping abuse on someone already dangerously depressed. How do the rest of you deal with this?

In my opinion a poem has to have rythm and rhyme to be good. If they are heaped with pain I usually don't comment about it.

Um...this is the internet, not daycamp. I ain't your counselor! Deal with it.

Give them an example from my own life and let them know they ,too, will survive.

Avoid them, I suppose.

Reading such poetry are often cringe-inducing and emotionally draining. Then again, there was a phase in my life when I'd do nothing but churn out such poems on a daily basis, so I know how good it feels for someone to acknowledge my writing and comment on them.

I suppose a great deal of such poets want nothing more than someone to listen to their story, less someone who really cares about how good their poems are.

Angsty poetry is a rite of passage for most people, being a great outlet for their stories and emotions.

One day they'll grow out of it. Some don't, but eventually get better so that your average poetry-enthusiast might actually enjoy reading it. So it's all win-win anyway. :)

So i just avoid it.

Well, I personally feel that writing is cathartic to the writier and part and parcel of the spiritual journey through pain and suffering. I cannot spare anyone that sorrow. But I can do them dignity of reading and helping them to see that they touched someone, they reached me, I heard, and the rest well it's minutia.
Does it really matter how any of us write? The fact is that soul is reaching out to soul and wanting to be heard no matter what is being expressed. If a person isn't asking you to actually critique and help them with the actual "writing", what they are asking is 'did I get through', 'are you hearing me'. Sometimes just knowing that somebody is listening and that they connected is enough to keep them interested in writing more than in what is going on around them in their lives.

I'm not God. I'm just a hand reaching out, a listening ear, . . . .the rest is up to them.

i only say positive things, honestly. or nicely-said constuctive critisism on the stanzas or something

Just be honest with what you think of the poem. They WANT your honest opinion if they're asking for criticism. (That's what being a critique is about!)

Other times, the poem is -badly written- although the -meaning- itself is very good, and if better structured, people would see what they mean. So don't be scared to say something like "I don't get what you're trying to say here." If you have to, ask what they're trying to express, then the writer would explain to you what they are trying to write and you can help them write what they want to express better.

It won't make you feel guilty after pointing out all those mistakes and I'm sure the writer would be proud with his work in the end even grateful for the criticism given.