April is National Poetry Month, and I've been a bit remiss in not mentioning it until now. Tomorrow is National Put a Poem in Your Pocket Day. Every year, we hear people moan and groan about poetry. I've heard comments like Not for me! Who reads poetry? And why? I just don't get poetry. Too highbrow for me. High School made me dislike poetry--all that memorizing!
A lot more people would enjoy poetry if they gave it a chance. If they would read it without a preconceived notion that they are not going to like it. Will you like every poem you read? Of course not. You don't like every story or essay you read. Certain parts of all writing appeals to us, or it doesn't. Please don't make a statement saying you don't like poetry until you do a little exploration and give it a chance.
The Huh? Factor: There are poems that make sense only to the poet. When we were in high school, we were required to read a certain amount of poetry and tear it apart bit by bit until we understood what the poet was telling us. It didn't always work, did it? I remember reading a poetry assignment, deciding what it was about, and then having the teacher go a completely opposite direction the next day. Many times.
Over the years, I grew to like reading and writing poetry as did many others. There is beauty in the words. In the thoughts of a poet. In the poems that have become beloved over many years. Poets like the two shown here today will be remembered for the poems they wrote that appealed to readers. They, and other poets, wrote about nature and love and sorrow and so many more areas of life.
What kind of poetry do you like? Sonnets, Asian forms, rhyming, narrative, free verse, acrostic, or some other? There are complicated forms and very simple ones. I've never had any training in writing poetry so I stay with the simple kinds. I can write free verse, a rhyming poem, a narrative, but that's about it for me. I know poets who write all kinds of more complicated forms. Know and also admire them.
My state writing organization sponsors an annual writing contest in Prose and Poetry. The Poetry category has several subsections to enter. There are many poetry contests which can be found using your favorite search engine online.
Some poets write in hopes of publication, preferably paid publication, while others write poetry only for themselves and perhaps a small group of family and friends. Either way is fine. It's your choice.
Before you write poetry, read it. Read a lot of it. Don't read only the famous poets, but also lesser known names. I could list several here whose names I know because I have read their work, but you may never have heard of them. Search for poetry collections in bookstores and at your local library. When you read a poetry collection, it is not necessary to read cover to cover all at once. Read it that way if you like, opr read in bits and pieces. Go back and read the ones that appeal the most to you.
That brings me to another thought. Reading a poem once and moving on doesn't allow you to absorb the message or the beauty or the thought behind the poem. Read a poem several times. The more you read, the more you see, the more you understand, and maybe the more you like it.
If you're not familiar with the two poets I have named here today. Do a little research on each one, and read some of their poetry. Then try to find the works of more modern poets like Maya Angelou or Amanda Gorman, the young poet who read her work at our last presidential inauguration.
Put a little poetry in your life. Poetry is feelings put into words. Read it. Write it. Enjoy it.Tomorrow, you might even want to put a poem in your pocket along with myriad numbers of people.
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