POETRY

A poem is a path you were about to travel but were uncertain of the way.

In ancient times, poetry was an oral tradition, and poets were the storytellers. When poets began writing poems for the page, something to be read rather than heard, poetry lost much of its story-telling power and persuasion. Professional poets began experimenting with non-traditional forms, and disconnecting style from content, causing everyday readers to feel as if they were working a crossword puzzle without the clues. Then radio, television, lyrical music, movies, novels, and other forms of modern media further displaced the role poetry had previously played. As we moved into the digital age, amateur poets began flooding the Internet with a raw, un-crafted flow of passion and pain, angst and anger. Poetry was beginning to sound like children carelessly pounding the keys on a piano. In school, teachers asked us, "What does this poem mean?" instead of "How does this poem make you feel?" This find-the-meaning approach made it unlikely that people would read poetry after they graduated.

Today, poetry is reaching fewer people because a large percentage of the poems written today are either appallingly awkward or annoyingly incomprehensible. Between those extremes, however, are poems that speak to the heart of things that matter. Poems that can evoke your thoughts and feelings, not just what the poet thinks and feels. Poems that can inform you about cultural and political concerns in a personal way. Poems that can inspire you by how they mean, not merely what they mean. Poems that can change your opinion of the role poetry can play in your life. Poems that can entertain you with sound and sense, music and meaning. Poems that can transform your perplexed What? into an ecstatic Wow! Poems that can lighten your heart like a firefly brightens the night.

When I was a child, I remember liking poetry because I didn't have to understand the meaning. Poems were just fun to read, as in... Hi diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle. In my teens I remember liking poetry because I could understand the meaning, as in... My love is like a red, red rose." In college I remember not liking poetry because it was either too silly or absurd to be taken seriously, or so dark and mysterious that I didn't care what it meant, as in... Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

Later, when I was no longer encumbered by the need to write clear, easy-to-understand instructions for my students, I found myself turning to complex yet intriguing poems whose meaning was accessible if I were willing to invest myself in the poem as a participant, not as a judgmental spectator, as in... I am silver and exact, and swallow whatever I see immediately.

Have you abandoned poetry because most poems are too silly or absurd to be taken seriously? Too trite and obvious to warrant your attention? Too dark, mysterious and complex to unravel the meaning? Then you'll be pleased to hear that words go together in zillions of ways, and some of those ways are neither enigmatic nor trivial. You might also be more prone to read poetry, and get more from it, if you understand why poets write poetry.

• Poets have a passion for words and the way they go together to evoke thoughts and feelings in their readers.
• Poets care about the specificity of words. For them, synonyms are semantic fiction, because every word says what all the others cannot say.
• Poets are driven by curiosity and the satisfaction they derive from using words to uncover the mysteries of life;
• Poets are emotionally and intellectually sensitive, and therefore good observers, keenly aware of the diverse nature of life;
• Poets pay close attention to life, and strive to enhance their awareness by being responsive and involved participants in life;

Below are just a few of the many poems that demonstrate these traits. They are also good examples of a poet's ability to use ordinary language in extraordinary ways to show us familiar things in fresh new ways. You can find most of them on the Poem Finder website. Who knows? Some of them might inspire you to write a poem that conveys your thoughts and feelings about something that matters.

Billy Collins "Introduction to Poetry"
Charles Bukowski "I Met a Genius"
Robert Frost "The Road Not Taken"
Ted Kooser "Selecting a Reader"
Joni Mitchell "Both Sides Now"
William Stafford "Freedom"
Marianne Moore "Poetry"
Pablo Neruda "Poetry"
Slyia Plath "Mirror"
Octavio Paz "After"

As you read these poems keep in mind that implicit expressions require higher levels of attention than explicit expressions. So poetry requires a closer reading than prose. The result is to hear the rhythmic dance of words, the audible flow of sound and sense. Once that reaches your ears, it travels into your heart and mind where you'll be compelled to pay closer attention to yourself and the world around you.