Growing up, I always felt like I simply couldn’t understand the idea of poetry – I dreaded every school project that involved reading or writing poems. I generally found their structures to be, for the most part, unnecessary and my understanding of them was limited to “abstract thoughts and overly complex layouts”. I just couldn’t comprehend why an author would choose to express their thoughts in such a form instead of writing, for instance, a short story or a conventionally structured article. Over the past few years, however, this frustration I felt slowly gave way to a sense of admiration – as I read more and more poems, I began to not only take the time to comprehend the meanings behind them individually more easily, but also understand the genre of poetry itself as a form of expression.
Poetry is, beyond a written genre, an artistic yet subtle way of bringing thoughts to life. Although I still struggle to write poems myself, I find that simply by reading someone else’s work, I am able to immerse myself in their world and the feelings they wish to convey. There is a certain power that resides is poetry; it comes from its unique ability of presenting topics, even if general ones, through particular perspectives. No two people have the same lens through which they perceive the world, and this translates, subsequently, into their poetic voices. As recently discussed in our ASTU class, the poems of Juliana Spahr, for instance, present to the world the view through which she saw the events of 9/11 and its consequences. Every single person experienced this traumatic event in a unique manner, through their unique eyes. Further, apart from presenting to the reader a fresh take on a greatly discussed world event, Spahr’s poetry served as a means for the author herself to find healing through her own words. By writing down her thoughts into the form of poetry, Spahr found within her confused thoughts a voice – one that allowed her to see things more clearly in a time of distress, and brought awareness and comfort to those who read them and found themselves with similar feelings.
Although once naïve to this understanding, today I find this genre and these perspectives to be utterly crucial to our collective understanding of the world. Poems such as those of Spahr can subtly bring awareness to subjects that, despite difficult, must be acknowledged, and brings clarity to those who are left with disorganized thoughts. In a situation like the traumatic attacks of September 11th, writing an article or even a lengthy reflection might have been too painful a task for many. Poetry, however, brings in a certain delicacy that is rather comforting – the intricate flow of words, the potentially powerful imagery, the possibility of a lyric flow all create a web of ‘ease’ and consolation through which an author may find their voice. Perhaps, in the occasion of a harsh reality, even a reader might find it easier to read works of poetry rather than gory news articles, even though both may have the same events as their main subject. Through my own understanding, the delicacy of poetry, even when bringing up rather ‘dark’ topics, makes it significantly easier to digest than a news article or critical piece.
Moreover, I find that, in recent years, the poetic genre has been gaining notoriety and a certain acceptance it simply did not have in the public eye before. Works such as that of Rupi Kaur (and her now world-famous poetry compilation Milk and Honey) are easily understood and bring widely relatable topics of love and loss to the table, bringing the subject of poetry to the public – beyond the world of scholars. Nowadays, even scrolling through social media on can find pictures of celebrities reading and praising her book, or ‘relatable quotes’ from other poets being shared by friends and family members. Poetry has become accessible as a form of expression, even if not one’s own words – when one can’t seem to vocalize their feelings and thoughts, they turn to the works of other poets; there certainly exists a poem or stanza that has been previously written that conveys similar emotions to what they are currently experiencing.
Ultimately, much like my own perspective, the way in which the general public understands poetry has been positively changing to accept it as a way of artistic expression and introspection. Poems bring particular voices to the world – voices that can be heard and reflected on by many. They enrich our lives and add new understandings of the world to our particular views, and add a great deal of culture to global literature. It is crucial, then, that we continue to open doors to include and celebrate poetry in our lives – whether it be as a healing mechanism to a reader, an artistic expression to an author, or simply as a relatable piece to a social media user.