Poetry and the reason it exists ...

Coming up on my one year anniversary of writing poetry, I have come to realize that there are many things that I have come to realize, poetry is not out there to impress... Personally my goal of writing poetry is to depict what man is in life, what man truly goes through, the struggles, the happy moments and the different emotions that we all have. Being human as well, of course I go through some of these moments, however we can't go through everything, so that's where engaging people helps.

Poetry, has definitely evolved since, Cadman's hymn, and definitely changed since Lewis Caroll's Jabberwocky and Poe's Raven, even when Howl was called the poem that defined the century, we are still evolving, and now the moderns sit on our shelves as Classics. So how is the face of poetry going to change, to tell you the truth I have no idea. But everyone is trying their own style, and trying to experiment, so I guess like music, we have entered the era of the experimental.

Every poet writes to change the reader, to make the reader feel something. We do not write to just be, but rather to cause change and to make people see things in a light they have never seen before. Poets are the eyes of the socially blind unable to see past their 9-5 concrete walls, the ears to the socially deaf society open to noise pollution everyday, and the mouth to the street urchins and outcasts that roam the street wishing for a better tomorrow. We do not write to be praised nor to be merited with the Pulitzer prize, but we write because we are not ashamed of our art, and no matter what people say about it we will not be affected by it. Poetry is a difficult job, and what we try to achieve in that few stanzas can either change the world, or just be another poem that is amongst the hundreds.

One thing that I have a general dislike is that people that see poetry as an easy task. It frustrates me because composing a GOOD piece of poetry takes effort, takes ALOT of editing, and many hours poured over the piece, till the poet feels satisfied. Poetry cannot be just thrown out there in the world, without a re reading. I have been depressed for weeks, I have cried and have staked out nights to come up with a piece of poetry that I feel satisfied with. That's why I don't care much for criticism, because I write for no audience, I write so that I am at peace with myself. Even if my poetry is run through the mud, I know the amount of work I have put into it, and if it has not been enough I know too...

Alike with music, PEOPLE WHAT ON EARTH?! Lady Ga Ga and all sorts of new artists are flooding the market with riff raff. Today I managed to hear a good artist and his music is good, not like the common lyrics. Lyrics to me are the most important part of the song, mainly because I see musicians as poets, that are able to compose music with lyric.If the lyrics sucks, and the music does not even fit the mood of the words then the song is ridiculous and absurd. Well identical to poetry, if the form and the structure of the poem does not even befit the words which are in the poem then it is equally useless, it is akin to listening to the lyrics of a ballad but the music is death metal... it does not make sense. Because it does'nt make sense, it does not have the effect it desires.

Poetry, exists because we as humans do. The excitement of poetry comes when there is a surge in your hand as you pen down words that were never thought of. When words flow like a babbling brook, and where things not commonly seen in our busy lives can be brought out in words. Poetry is a picture in words and how lively that picture can be, depends on the poet. But one thing that we must have in our conviction is that conviction to write write and write, and never give up. Poetry teaches us how never to give up when the going gets tough especially when another good poem does not seem like it is in sight.

Like Tennyson said in Ulysses,

We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

What Tennyson is saying here, which I am ripping off from Kesley Grammer, is that while it is tempting to play it safe, the more we are willing to risk the more alive we are. In the end what we will regret most are the chances we never took...

There I leave you with a quote from the Bard,

So long as man can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long live this, and this gives life to thee.