Keith, he said her poetry was lousy back in the early to mid-60's....and it was at that time, relatively speaking! ;-) It was then. It later improved greatly with practice. By the late 60's her poetry had improved considerably, and by the mid-70's she was writing some very, very good song lyrics, and has been doing so ever since. "Diamonds and Rust" is a classic example, as are numerous other songs like "Gulf Winds".

It is quite rare for people to write really well when they're starting out, although Dylan certainly did. Joan, like most people, needed some time and experience to hone the craft and reach her real potential.

Bob also encouraged Joan to write songs when she thought she couldn't. They had a talk at some point in the early-to-mid 60's and he asked her, "Why don't you write any of your own songs?" She said, "Bob...because I can't." And he said, "That's bullshit, anyone can write songs. Just sit down and do it."

I've read that in her own autobiographical writings. So Bob may have made a critical remark about Joan's poetry on some isolated occasion, but he also tried to give her the confidence to write in the first place.

As for the cufflinks...sure, it might have been just a lyrical invention to fit the verse...but it's also quite likely that it is literally true, John Hardly, so I see no reason why we should not have a discussion based on that hypothetical possibility. Personally, I think it likely is literally true that she gave him some cufflinks.