An attempt to make poetry less dreadful
Something has been on my mind as I dabble in my poems and talk with Michelle about this collaboration. The reality is that a lot of people have mixed feelings about poetry, by which I mean a mix of suspicion, reluctance and serious doubt at the idea of poetry being remotely enjoyable.
Understandable.
The mention of poetry can stir up memories of high school English lit class, of being made to read rambling odes with weirdly forced rhymes and too many frilly metaphors, or unpredictable free verse that started off one direction and suddenly veered off over there, ending up several steps sideways of that, and was it Keats or Yeats, and is it going to be on the test?
In addition to generally bewildering uselessness, we were often given the impression that--even if we happened to discover something halfway pleasing--there was always a hidden meaning which could be discerned by only the most learned of fusty professors or sagest of contemporaries.
All in all, quite easy to leave behind with relief, along with advanced algebra and shorthand.
Yes, I read all those snoozy odes and sonnets and Walt Whitman still makes me crazy. But there is a lot of wonderful poetry out there too. How can I make poetry interesting and challenging, without boring you to death trying to explain it?
There are many ways to try to break things down. I suppose the most basic division is rhyming vs free verse. Then there are broad swaths of types: Narrative (tells a story, like Greek mythology), or dramatic (think Shakespeare’s plays), or lyric. Inside the category of lyric poetry you’ll find those English sonnets, plus haiku, limericks, odes, songs, elegies, all that free verse, and on and on. There’s long stuff (Dante’s Inferno), short stuff (Emily Dickinson), poems bound tightly into strict patterns of stresses and syllable counts and rhymes (Shakespeare and company), and then there’s ee commings, whose poetry looks like he ran a book through a shredder, grabbed a handful of pieces and scattered them on the table top.
There have always been poets. Just as every culture, the globe around, down through the ages, has produced visual art and music and dance and story telling to depict life and attitudes of the day, to say SOMETHING IMPORTANT, poets have used the written and spoken word to convey the message--in distinct contrast to the formally accepted sentence structure and grammar of prose.
Poetry is nothing more than compressed story telling.
OK, I know, epics like the Iliad and the Odyssey are NOT compressed in any fashion, but these examples are still much briefer than had those stories been written out in prose. Ever read any James Michener or Tom Clancy? That’s epic prose. Poetry boils down the larger narration and action to concise images and snapshots of time that connote rather than detail. The reader or listener is given some basic evocative suggestions--a few brushstrokes of something visual, a sound, a smell, a tactile sensation, an action, an idea, a feeling. The brevity of a poem requires the poet to go sparingly, choose carefully the most vivid prompts of the small experience they are trying to provoke for the reader/ listener.
Poets use sounds (vowels and consonants and combinations thereof), rhythm, line breaks, and very precise word choice to capture a few moments of experience and construct their images. Yes, sometimes the brush strokes seem too sparing, but this is the invitation for the reader to join the work of creating the rest in their own minds. Poetry is not spoon feeding as prose often is, but the good poets can craft worlds and large-as-life experiences with a few well-chosen words. They can make the reader see, hear, taste, smell, and feel as deeply as if he or she were right there in the middle of the scene that unfolding on the page.
The more I read poetry, the more I think poets do have an idea that they are trying to convey, and they do work that direction with the words they choose. However, success is always subjective. It may mean something very specific to the poet, but because it’s not spelled out, the receiver may come up with something entirely different from the suggestions. Hence the mysterious gibberish. Someone reading a great deal of one poet with solid familiarity with the context from which that poetry sprang would have a better chance at understanding what’s being conveyed. But without such context, it’s easy to find it all to be so much nonsense.
So yes, there is a lot of weird poetry out there.
Here’s the thing--you don’t have to read the nonsense. You don’t have to worry about understanding it if it does nothing for you. Just move on.
I’ve checked out a lot of poetry at the library. Some of it I get through out of curiosity and intention to give it an honest effort. Much of it I’ve turned the last page on and immediately forgotten. But some of those collections I didn’t make it past the first several poems. Turns out I don’t like the stuff I can’t get a consistent image and message from. Too vague, nothing fits together. It might be great poetry--but not to me. It doesn’t mean I’m an ignorant Philistine.
Just like you wouldn’t read romance novels if they bore you stiff, and you wouldn’t listen to rap or watch Japanese anime if it leaves you cold, you can pick and choose your poetry. You might be surprised if you give something a second chance and work at it a bit over time. But you’re not a poetry failure if you decide to not waste your effort.
Life’s too short to struggle with nonsense. Pick up the few jewels that catch your eye and let the rest go. Look for the stuff that does light a spark in you. Consume that, and let that lead you new places.
To get started, I’d suggest going to the library and checking out a handful. You’ll find collections by single poets and collections curated by a editors around a specific theme. Just jump in. I spend time reading a bit about each new poet online to get a bit of their historical and cultural context. Wikipedia does fine for this. I also look on Poetry Foundation, where I read about the poet, sample some of their work, and find interviews, discussions, and reviews. I also subscribe to a few daily poem apps and regular newsletters. Find some sources that appeal to you and let yourself chase links and wander when you find something you like. You just never know.
So, I guess this is my challenge to you to go find some poetry to enjoy. I dare you. If you already read poetry, go ahead and tell me what you like.
Toward the promise,
Lana
# 310
This morning
Before the horizon greys
Before the caffeine hits
As my attention span fractures again
into urgency frustration
I must I wish
I invite You
into Your place
To inform my ruminations
To nudge my impulses
To steward my splinters
which I hold in open hands
such a mess
I have learned that faith is
for one moment
each one then the next
Like breathing
I remember that Your ways
which I am learning
are not like mine
I remember
to breathe
1-2-23
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Here’s the link to last week’s issue Limitations
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