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Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? I'm always reminded at this time of the year that poetry is one literary genre I neglect. Really, you would think that poetry would be an easy genre to read. While there are epic poems that can (and do) fill entire volumes of books much poetry is short. The more I question why it is that I, and so many other avid readers, don't include a great portion of poetry in our literary diet, the best I can come up with is this - poetry makes us pause.
I've discussed before that my love of poetry was killed by high school English courses. What I didn't tell you then was this little confession - I am a published poet. Once upon a time, when I was in fifth grade, I got a poem published in a provincial anthology of children's poetry. It was a horrible poem about pollution but hey, it rhymed! My memory is fuzzy and I cannot remember it all but I do believe it started with "Pollution, pollution, help us find a solution." It then went on to talk about the air stinking and animals dying. Yes, on top of it rhyming it had death! Instant classic poem in the making (or so I thought). It's such a shame I cannot remember the rest of it. Nor can I remember what the anthology was called. It was one of those rather sad looking ones, with a cardstock cover and that annoyingly bad plastic binding. It didn't matter to me - it was my poem and it was in a book. I marched into the main library branch that summer, pulled the book off the shelf and found my poem. I looked at it, looked at my name underneath and thought, "That's me. And people will read it." Of course I very much doubt that many people at all read it (children or adults) but it was a very empowering feeling. My very first byline came via poetry! Now not only do I not read it, I don't write it either.
I began to wonder what it was that I was missing - why is it that I just don't love poetry? I can only blame so much on high school English class. Had I really loved poetry it wouldn't have kept me back. After all, they made us dissect novels to death as well. I went off searching for bloggers who read poetry, who love poetry. I found this gem of a post by slynne on why she loves poetry (in 153 words or less). (While you are checking out the link be sure to check out her poetry.)
My heart is not made of muscle or spun sugar, my heart is made of words.
Hecate's post on why she loves poetry consists of Alfred Noyes' poem, "The Lost Battle". That's it, that's all. That one poem sums it up for her. It says everything that she needs to say.
Similarly dreyers at Crookedstair posted Marianne Moore's "Poetry", only adding, "What she said."
The Amateur Poetess says that poetry "is something that can only speak to the deepest part of a person's soul."
It a personal piece of the poets heart and soul that they put into every poem and more so it touches your heart and soul so deeply that only that poem could describe the influx of emotion.
When I read poetry I like to do so slowly, deliberately. I need to roll the words around in my head and in my mouth, feeling the way they work and flow together. I need to find their tempo. I need to wonder why the author used this word and not that one. Is there a significance? Did it just sound better? What does the poet mean by this phrase? It it the obvious meaning or is there another deeper, symbolic message? Poetry is not simply read - poetry is experienced.
Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey and Sassymonkey Reads.
