April is National Poetry Month…
Whoa… don’t all celebrate at once. I can hear many of you cringing at the thought of poetry, but I’ve discovered it’s not that bad.
Seriously if you’re reading or writing the right stuff then it can be a wonderful experience.
How do I know that? Well, at one point, I was obviously one of those cringing… 🤣🤣🤣.
I had no concrete reason to dislike poetry. It did remind me of high school though, and all the old English blah, blah, blah and $20 words that I had no frikken idea what they meant.
I found it frustrating and totally unenjoyable (is that a word? 🤔).
Even stuff like Shakespeare…
Seriously, am I supposed to take it all to heart and embrace the nonsensical meaning of sentences that go on forever or speak in a language that I don’t know or care to learn?
Why does everyone love that shit? Oops sorry… I feel like that question is a huge creative faux pas as all writers are to be hinged somehow to the ancient texts of “the Greats”. 🤦🏻♀️ Ugh!
To be honest, I think poetry (and other flowery prose or old English writing) always made me feel stupid because it seemed to be written in code.
I remember in English class, someone would comment on a poem with some clever observation as I scanned the text and wondered if we’d just read the same thing. Sigh…
Here’s the thing, when I read, I like to feel the words and understand the meaning behind them. A good poem can make that happen.
A poem that’s well written can leave you thinking and pondering life’s nuances for a long time. That’s powerful. Check out Canadian poet Shane Koyczan.
He does what they call “spoken word”. The words come from the depth of his soul as he shares his stories in a poetic way.
It’s not about what’s missing… just like reading a story, the reader can fill in the gaps with their own experience–it’s about what’s on the page.
I don’t want to be talked down to.
Feeling stupid or incompetent in trying to read something, is not fun. It’s snotty and needs to be tossed. 🫣You, hereby have my permission, to toss anything that makes you feel less-than. That should never… ever… happen and is unacceptable.
I’m a writer. I develop characters and settings. Situations change. My twisted writer brain meanders through some tough situations to develop a full, fleshed-out story.
Poetry though, is different.
I enjoy writing poetry. I’m not sure it’ll ever win any awards or go on and make me famous, but I do it anyway.
For this month, my goal is to complete ten poems. I’ll publish them on my blog and let you decide whether they’re any good. I won’t be crushed it you don’t like them. 😉
Tell me your thoughts on poetry. Do you love it? Loathe it? Indifferent? Have you tried your hand at it?
Pic: Source Unsplash. Artist: Trust “Tru” Katsande
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I enjoy reading others’ poetry but worry that mine doesn’t necessarily follow the “rules” :)!..I think that with poetry you can say so much more in fewer words. Looking forward to reading your poems 🙂
I totally agree with you. Rules are not my thing either…in fact, don’t they say that rules are made to be broken? Well, I probably shatter them all. I just like to play with words. You should try your hand and put the worry to the side. It is kinda neat to say something without having to write for a year. thx so much visiting. It really is appreciated.
Hi Faye. I do like poetry and I have tried my hand at it. Maybe you inspired me to write a few more. One of my favorite poems is by a Canadian ….Bliss Carman called Earth’s Voices.
I like your honesty on how you felt about poetry. I was the same.
Thank you Heather. I’m going to check that poem out. I don’t have any faves but I know what I like and don’t. I just don’t like any kind of academia that tries to trip up readers or is so hoity-toity (I wonder where that saying comes from 🤔–lol) that it speaks down to people. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you try more poetry.
Congrats on being shortlisted, Faye! Rooting for your short story.
Thank you! 😊
Lol…I have a series of 14 kids books published in wacky rhyme. Does this count as poetry? I always remember shuddering in English class when we had to translate poetry into what it really meant. Always wondered why they just didn’t say what they meant in the first place. Looking forward to your poems, Faye.
lol…no whacky kids books don’t count. Those are fun.
But you get EXACTLY what I’m saying. I knew I wasn’t the only one who wondered why they didn’t say that in the first place 😂!! It’s true. Thanks Ginny. xo
Thank you for your thoughts about poetry. From a very young age I loved poetry when it was presented to me in elementary school. You know,( ‘the rhyming couplets etc.) but I never continued my love until later years (Open ended rhymes and simply words that has no rhyme in sight. It’s cool to explore what the poet is saying. Enjoy
Hey Lauren. Agreed. Picking it up now, I’m quite enjoying it…there were just more than a few years where it didn’t make any sense and my energies were needed elsewhere 😉… I’m getting there. I feel like I’m getting more cultured as I get older. 🤓.. Thanks for stopping by. xo
I guess we were raised on poetry. Long before I started school, I had already memorized dozens of nursery rhymes, children’s songs … even hymns and scripture at church. Then as soon as school started, we memorized lots more poetry–like R.L. Stevenson’s poems, which I remember to this day. In grade 2, our class won the district festival for choral speaking. “The Owl and the Pussycat” and “The Steam Shovel.” Never forget those 🙂 And so on it went. Great way to learn to spell, as we wrote and rewrote until the poems (and spelling) were deep in our minds. In high school, we memorized multiple sections of Shakespeare. And yet, despite all that poetry, I never really “loved” it (just thought it was part of life) until grade 12 when I took English Literature 12 … and had a teacher who loved poetry and brought it alive for us! Then in college I took courses that focused on more modern poetry. And then taught poetry as an English teacher (nothing like teaching something to really get into it!). Anyway, thanks for your post! Brought back lots of great memories! Yay!
Hey Norma. I think I was sort of raised on poetry too–same as you…the nursery rhymes, the songs, and the stories, but I never remember anyone taking the time to really explain. Especially when I was young. Like when you’re four years old–what is a “pocket full of posies”? or “jack fell down and broke his crown…” what does that mean?
Then fast forward to high school lit and I didn’t want to say a word, let alone unearth the hidden meaning…what a frikken nightmare.
I also remember writing a poem in grade ten and the teacher handed it back to me the next day saying that it made no sense. Lol…
Now I see poetry as being something personal and a method of sharing through the placement of emotions on a page. I guess you could say I’m learning and a work in progress.