So many people have the wrong idea about poetry. It is not for the faint of heart. If, when you think of poems, you imagine flowers and sweetness and love, you are only getting a very tiny part of the experience. Poems can certainly make you feel all mushy, and lovely and beautiful, that's true. They can also tear your heart out of your chest and leave it to wither on the floor, or leave you with an ache so deep it lingers for days.Though I love words in every form, there is something very special about poetry. There is an exquisite sense of timing and structure. The weight of each word is immense. A poem is like a tiny piece of a life left exposed and vulnerable.
Or it's just plain fun with a gum-chewing sort of cadence. Whatever.
Don't think you have time for poetry? Oh, come on. No matter what's happening to you right now, there's a poem for it.
Too busy watching TV? There's a poem about that.
Lose your head? There's a poem about that too.
House on fire?
Trying to get rid of the kids? Or rats? Or both?
Tormented by a demon bird. You know there's a poem about that (read brilliantly by Christopher Walken)
And of course there are love poems. Too many to count. But there are also poems about that other side of love.
Falling in love with the wrong person. (read here by John Hurt)
Trying to get your girlfriend to put out.
Whatever your situation, there's a poem for it.
My dad got me hooked on poetry when I was very young, and now I'm trying to do the same with my kids. Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl have been a wonderful help there. When I was a kid, the school library had a book called "Scary Poems for Rotten Kids". Now that was my kind of poetry. I've scoured second hand book shops everywhere looking for a copy. So far no luck.
I've mentioned before our new favourite app, If Poems, which has my youngest listening to Helena Bonham Carter recite on a daily basis. Bill Nighy reads as well. And you can hear Tom Hiddleston read the above linked poem "To His Coy Mistress" (I can hear the fan girls from here...)
I also have the pleasure of knowing a few extremely talented poets.
Linda Simoni Wastila
Mark Kersetter
Angel Zapata (especially if you like it dark and twisted)
Visit them and get your habit kick started.
Poetry can be very dark and twisted!
ReplyDeleteI found your book for $3.99 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0887531776/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all
Ahhh, Cool! I looked through amazon (Canada) but I really didn't want to pay $50 for it. Thanks, Laura!
DeleteI love the flow of poetry. The rhythm takes you away to a different dimension.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It really does. I'm not normally a romantic person, but poetry brings out that tiny hidden part of me.
DeleteI'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Love the TV poem.
ReplyDeleteMe too. :) Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl are such fun. I loved them as a kid and I love them now.
DeleteI am one of those awful people. Can't scan, deaf to most implicit meter and verse, poetry usually looks like poorly paragraphed prose to me. I'm always nudging myself on the topic, to find those poets who disprove my biases. Coleridge was one pleasant surprise.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, but sometimes I find short prose to be like poorly structured poetry. :)
DeleteThe love of poetry was shared with me by my grandmother, who left me several books from the early 1900s. I love reading poetry for the way it rolls off the tongue, and feels.
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure. And I agree with how it rolls off the tongue. Like velvet in your mouth. The words have a nice viscosity.
DeleteI like some poetry, some tries to be too clever, and some they call free verse, often has no rhythm to it, but appears just like pros strung together.
ReplyDeleteHowever I have had various attempts at writing poetry, I wrote one piece after a visit to a Dali exhibition, this poem got published - it's on my blog if you're interested under poems ^_^ You'll also find lots of silly ones. I particularly like the challenge of pantoums.
I see poetry everywhere in the written word and I think it's something we all secretly aspire to.
ReplyDeleteLaurita, there's a poem for everything!
ReplyDeleteI love poetry ... I just can't write it, but I still try. One day.
ReplyDeleteNow Angel Zapata and Linda Simoni Wastila know how to write poetry. I think you're pretty good too, Laurita.
Thank you for this! You know I always enjoy your posts, but this one was extra fun and inviting. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteJennifer
http://jennabarnable.wordpress.com
When I write poetry more often than not it's because I need to boil something down so I can make sense of it. The toughest pieces to push the publish button on are the ones closest to my heart.
ReplyDeleteI always loved ee cummings. Didn't discover his more erotic work until I became an adult. Would have been a bit of a shocker in junior high.
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