A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music…” ~Soren Kierkegaard
Poetry has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. The weight of a pen in my hand was always a tremendous balm, and any paper in my path became privy to my thoughts, laid out in varying lines across the page. I was the young girl in the restaurant leaving stanzas behind on stained paper placemats. I was the young woman made giddy by a successful metaphor, by my mentor’s smile when the words clicked, leaving my mouth with the right balance of sound and meaning. And I’ve become a woman patient enough to spend years crafting a single poem, using up hours and ink, working in a worn notebook trying to find a way to express what I’ve come to know of the world.
As for reading poetry, it never intimidated me because I acknowledged that there was a good, probable chance that I wouldn’t understand it deeply, or that what I took from any given poem would be completely my own. Some time back I came across a Dylan Thomas quote that states my thoughts on this better than I ever could:
“You can tear a poem apart to see what makes it tick…. You’re back with the mystery of having been moved by words. The best craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps… so that something that is not in the poem can creep, crawl, flash or thunder in.”
I think poetry should be open to subjective interpretation, and I love the idea of allowing something to “flash or thunder in.” See, I read poetry for a connection, for a moment in time, a moment out of time, never approaching it with any true expectations. I read poetry because I love it. And that’s why I want to celebrate National Poetry Month.
I hope you’ll bear with me as several posts over the coming month are going to be dedicated to it. If I can dig out some of my old poetry (and I do mean old) it might find its way here, but I’ll also be posting some favorite poems, talking about collections and anthologies I’ve enjoyed, and asking for your thoughts on poems and poets because I love discovering new work.
“I fell in love — that is the only expression I can think of — at once, and am still at the mercy of words…” – Dylan Thomas
Great post. Poetry isn’t appreciated enough today, especially in the publishing world. Once upon a time people like Thomas and Wilfred Owen were famous because they were masters of the craft. Not so much these days.
And, just because, here’s my all-time favorite poem:
You Will Hear Thunder
You will hear thunder and remember me,
And think: she wanted storms. The rim
Of the sky will be the colour of hard crimson,
And your heart, as it was then, will be on fire.
That day in Moscow, it will all come true,
when, for the last time, I take my leave,
And hasten to the heights that I have longed for,
Leaving my shadow still to be with you.
Anna Akhmatova
Poetry = LAME.
Just kidding. I’m not a huge fan of poetry unless it’s the kind of inappropriate kind like Roald Dahl of Shel Silverstein. Then again, I don’t mind old fashioned epic poetry or something like Shakespeare, but I guess, for me, it’s closer to reading prose fiction. I’ve never really been able to (read:interested) engage with poetry for poetry’s sake–does that make sense? I don’t even want to talk about my own personal written poetry–almost all angsty romance or silly rhymes. But there are many gosh darn good poets out there that I don’t even know about who reach a great many people, so they deserve a month to celebrate. Maybe I’ll catch onto one that you post about. 
Danielle – That’s a huge part of why I wanted to do a few poetry features during April – to find new poems and poets to enjoy. Very, very nice. Thanks for sharing!
Lan – Shel Silverstein can likely be credited with sparking my love of poetry; his irreverence took away the intimidation factor, for one, but they were just too cool to me at the time.
I forgot that April is National Poetry Month. When Endicott Studios had their website up I was always more in tune with this. Thanks for reminding me. Turns out to be pretty timely because I read Bright Star today, the letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne and it also contained several of his poems. He was amazingly talented. I’ll be putting up a review soon and, thanks to you, will be mentioning National Poetry Month.
Carl – I have Bright Star waiting for me; I can’t wait to see what you thought of it. Loved the movie, the way Keats explained poetry to Fanny, and I really must get to the book soon.