Let me count the ways ... whether it's the poem of the day in my email from The Poetry Foundation, a snippet I hear on NPR, or the book(s) I take to bed with me, poetry is always my companion.
It's fitting, then, that in April, which is National Poetry Month, I should wax poetic about, well, poetry.
In fact, this April marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month, which was inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996. National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world, with tens of millions of readers, students, K-12 teachers, librarians, booksellers, literary events curators, publishers, bloggers and, of course, poets marking poetry's important place in our culture and our lives.
As a lover of poetry, and as a poet myself, I applaud the academy in its goal to not only highlight the extraordinary legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets, but also to assist teachers in bringing poetry into their classrooms.
I found an interesting comment on the academy's website, poets.org: "Perhaps no other art form is asked to defend its value, impact, relevance, and existence as often as poetry ... With a mastery of language and its possibilities, poets elevate the material of everyday communication to art that requires reflection and contemplation."
I have certainly found both of these points to be true. Poetry has to defend itself because poetry intimidates, I'm told. Poetry is hard to understand, I've heard. Poetry is (and this makes me gasp) boring.
Yet, poetry doesn't demand to be understood. Poetry offers itself gently between sighing leaves of paper in a book, or smoothly, as one scrolls down the page. Poetry doesn't quiz you as you go. Poetry doesn't make you check a box before you can move on to the next stanza.
That's not to say I don't find poetry challenging ... I do, often. But this challenge is far different from intimidation. Poetry is there for our taking, at our own pace, however much or as little as we like. And yes, there are some poets whose work I just don't enjoy. There are also some poems from which I cannot glean value, impact or relevance ... but that's just me on any given day. I don't have to hang around with poetry I don't like. I'm not required to understand it, or even read it to the end.
Ah, but the poets I do love, those to whom I do relate, those who have an impact on me ... they are like personal friends. Elizabeth Bishop. Robert Blake. Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson. Translations of Wis awa Szymborska and Pablo Neruda. Shel Silverstein. I admit that some of these poets are less contemporary than others, and I do have my favorites among living artists, as well.
If you aren't already enamored of poetry, I urge you to browse your local bookstore. Pick up a book here and there and read a poem or two. Find some that relate to you. When you realize you don't have to pass "Go" to enjoy the language, music, images, and rhythm of poetry, I believe you will find a new companion too.
from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.comhttp://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Let-me-count-how-I-love-thee-poetry,212178?branding=15
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