In my ASTU class at UBC (a course that incorporates both reading and writing aspects), we have recently started to look into the form of poetry. Personally, I enjoy most poetry. Although I wouldn’t go as far to label myself as a poetic enthusiast, I do find leisure and interest in reading the sporadic poem here and there–in publications, on social media, and sometimes even on the bus! But what makes poetry so specialized, that we tend to isolate it in a separate category from other forms of literature?

I find the marginalization of poetry that society has created to be quite fascinating, despite the fact that a lot of people tend to ‘avoid’ it. What is it that makes people ‘turn away’? Is it the form? The elaborate phrases? Or perhaps it is the raw thoughts and emotions that are portrayed? And what exactly makes some poems draw larger crowds than other?

Perhaps our approach to poetry mirrors our constant approach to the “other”–those who we see as different and separate from our own identity. Perhaps our fright of something more-or-less foreign keeps us back from getting to know the subject of our fear in full. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it is bad. I think that as a species, we humans tend to avoid what we cannot understand–but that doesn’t devalue it’s legitimacy.

In class, we had discussed specifically about the presence of poetry surrounding 9/11 (the September 2001 attacks on the Twin Towers). What I found ironic was that despite the stigma of the ‘other’ that is–more often than naught–attached to poetry, during this time of grief, shock, and horror the poetic rates of creation, examination, and circulation increased ten-fold. But why did such a tragedy spurn such a poetic movement? Is it because when times of uncertainty and desperation are brought upon us, we tend to look for answers in what we initially ignored and [potentially] rejected? Perhaps our society’s constant stigma of poetry needs to be re-analyzed…

Now, I am not calling everyone to fully embrace the poetic form with open arms… I know that poetry does not always suit everyone’s ‘tastes’. Rather, I believe that although we all might not enjoy poetry, we must all acknowledge it’s reality. We may not ‘get’ poetry, but that doesn’t make it any less meaningful. Similar to how one cannot deny the effort, skill, and thought put into artwork that they do not specifically like, I do not believe that one should deny the passion and emotion that is put into one’s poetry. After all, the poetic form has been present in society for centuries–perhaps it brings a bigger contribution to society than many of us initially thought.