Hello Readers,

I hope you are all having another great week. Recently, in Professor Lugers’ ASTU 100 class, we have been doing readings, and discussing our experiences and opinions regarding the art of poetry. This form of art has always been based on interpretation, therefore, one may notice a variety of viewpoints on a single piece.

Growing up, I was taught how to compose multiple types of poems; for the most part focusing on the Haiku and the Sonnet. When I was tested on my creation of these poems, it was mainly to ensure that I could adhere to the structuration of the specific styles. As a result, I had to focus on the formation of the poems, rather than on the meaning behind what I was writing about and the message it could evoke. I was left with the impression that all poetic writing was dull, systematic, and not something that I wanted to participate in.

However, this all changed over the past couple of weeks. In the last few lessons that Professor Luger has conducted, we have read multiple poems; my favorite being “In Flanders Field” written by John McCrae during the first world war. He is said to have written it after attending the funeral of a friend that died in the war. McCrae’s poem stood out to me because although it incorporates proper structuration and formatting, it also contains so much history and emotion. This recent experience has opened my eyes to a fresh view on poetry, curving my disinterest, so that I am now able to look at it with a sense of meaning and passion. With this new realization, I have started to encounter poetry all over. I have found poetry to not just be in the classroom setting, but also in advertisements and in music; even rap, standing for rhythm and poetry.

Understanding that poetry spreads across such vast genres, allows us to examine the effects that it has on our society. We don’t just notice the different styles, but the way that those styles impact our views and the way we think. We see this in the music that inspires, motivates and represents people, as well as the protest speeches and consumer messages that influence corporations and politics. With this one can notice poetry’s ability to make a real impact. So if you happen to get asked why poetry is important, don’t only think about the poetry you learned as a kid. Look at the genre as a whole, understanding that it is so much more than meets the eye.