Someone told me recently that poetry doesn’t matter. I was aghast! I was astonished! I was …. annoyed. They claimed it was just for “old times like the 1800s”. Poetry. Beautiful lyrical poetry. It…. doesn’t matter? Really?
What about all those songs you listen to on the radio? Isn’t that poetry?
“Then you smiled over your shoulder
For a minute, I was stone-cold sober
I pulled you closer to my chest
And you asked me to stay over
I said, I already told ya
I think that you should get some rest
I knew I loved you then
But you’d never know
‘Cause I played it cool when I was scared of letting go
I know I needed you
But I never showed
But I wanna stay with you until we’re gray and old
Just say you won’t let go
Just say you won’t let go
I’ll wake you up with some breakfast in bed
I’ll bring you coffee with a kiss on your head
And I’ll take the kids to school
Wave them goodbye
And I’ll thank my lucky stars for that night “
James Arthur- Say you won’t let go. Isn’t that a beautiful thought? Doesn’t this create a beautiful picture in your mind? Tell me this isn’t poetry.
I read a review of one of my favorite books of poetry on Goodreads and the person claimed that if it doesn’t rhyme it’s not poetry. Really? It’s not? I wanted to comment “pretentious much?” I didn’t! But I thought about it.
One of my professors from college was a poet. He has multiple books published. In fact he donated some to a facility for juveniles that were struggling and making poor life choices. You wouldn’t believe how much his poetry spoke to some of them. They weren’t kids who I could ever get to read a novel, but they would read one or two… or seven of his poems. Once they got started it was hard for them to stop. You should check out some of his poetry, it’s really good! Here’s a link to his website. http://www.poetcrisler.com/index.php
Poetry is so beautifully complex and yet simple. In the movie “In Her Shoes” one of the main characters struggles to read. The blind man that she is reading to assures her, “It’s okay. Poetry is supposed to be slow”. She reads a few poems in the movie but my favorite that she reads is by E.E. Cummings.
“i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)”
Tell me that isn’t beautiful! I relate to this in such deeps ways in regards to my friendship. This one poem can be related to so many different relationships. It’s so versatile!
Amanda Lovelace’s book “The Princess Saves Herself in this One” is incredibly powerful! She encourages the princess to save herself! To slay her own dragons! To leave the tower and go heal! I read her book through in one day. Then I read it two more times. Then I bought three copies so I could give two away. It’s amazingly healing to hear that I’m not the only woman who has been hurt. That someone else understands. Here’s a link to her site https://amandalovelace.com/index.html
Poetry is important. There are things that can be expressed in poetry that cannot be expressed elsewhere. There is a beauty to the way that the words are crafted. The way such few words on a page can have such a big emotional impact. Poetry is important. In a world where everything moves fast, poetry allows us to go slow. So let’s take a moment and appreciate poetry. Let’s appreciate the beauty in the slow things.
Keep Sparkling
-B
The Sparkling Librarian 