Why Poetry Is For Everyone

"I just don't get poetry." "I don't gain anything from it." "I prefer other literary forms."

I don't actually begrudge anyone for having these opinions. Poetry can be hard to grasp. The heavy use of metaphors, as well as unconventional language and structure choices…it can be challenging. But that’s part of the reason I love it so much. Meaning doesn't have to be evident or obvious; poetry can and should be open to interpretation and varying perspectives. 

Poetry is everywhere. It's in the way we speak, the way we think, music, and many other art forms. These intersections demonstrate its dynamic potential and accessibility. To enjoy poetry is to enjoy the words of life that flicker around us, simply waiting to be listened to. 

And these words form differing perspectives that have shaped the world for centuries. Maybe it's not that surprising that poetry has too! What one person receives from a poem is never identical to another. Experience, interpretation, and context, are all contributing factors. Take the line beauty is truth, truth beauty, from John Keats' 'Ode on a Grecian Urn,' as an example. Meaning is shrouded by the overall trajectory of the poem, and the narrator's own skepticism. Conclusion, therefore, becomes unnecessary.

This notion isn't unique to Keats. The same is true of my own poems. My writing does not offer answers. If anything, it leaves you with more questions than you started with. That being said, the initial act of writing them, allows me to explore my own sense of acceptance. And usually, its an acceptance of things that I have no control over: situations that do not generate conclusions. This is one of the main reasons I feel ready to share my work with you all. It feels like the right time to invite people into my creative world, and allow you to consider how my words might resonate or challenge something in your own lives.

This is why poetry is for everyone. It represents life experience. A written line can change a life. Especially if it's not immediate what the intention of that line is. Your second read, third read, even twentieth read, might be completely different. Let the poem speak to you; never try and speak to it. You won't get anywhere by trying to force meaning out of a poem. Sometimes it needs to sit, and you need time to reflect on it.

In terms of literary forms, poetry is all about emotion. That's not my way of saying that prose does not deal with emotion, but generally, in order to write successful prose, the stakes are driven more by plot and character study. It pays to be perceptive whilst actually writing prose. It pays to be perceptive in everyday life experience to be a successful poet. Poems are not traditionally driven by logic. This is why I tend to have a problem with structured poetry masterclasses. I will very rarely attempt to write a villanelle, or a sonnet. Poems are the messy parts of human nature, and they will happen naturally. I'm not going to attempt to write a sonnet for the sake of writing a sonnet, but equally, I have a huge respect for poets who choose this more planned and direct approach. My poems have no rules. They represent the sort of freedom that I think everyone should seek to embrace in a world full of restrictions.

Just like the smell of freshly baked bread, or the sound of your childhood doorbell, each of my poems takes me back to a moment that is now fixed in words. This experience isn't just exclusive to writing poetry, but reading and listening to it too. How many of you have listened to a song lyric and been transported back to an event that holds special importance to you? That song becomes yours in a way that transcends stillness and cements memory. Now, that song is your experience. Your emotions. That's poetry in action.

I encourage you all to keep your minds open to  the everyday poetry in the world around you. Let nature and experience speak to you. Speak back, if you like. (But maybe do that silently, to reduce unwanted attention!!) Let words be a source of comfort to you, today, tomorrow and wherever life takes you in the future.