Mandatory "Return Poetry to the Masses" Rant

I think every poet wishes this one thing - that more people would read poetry. Yes, we write for ourselves, first and foremost... but we also want to share what we've written, and maybe connect or turn on someone else to our images and feelings. Unfortunately the schools tend to drain poetry of most of its beauty and worth, making it feel more like a history class where all you are forced to do all day is memorize dates and names over and over. Add in language full of "bowers" and "listeth" and "whence", and you can see where it can kill of a kid's interest. These kids then grow into adults who don't care if they never see another poem again in their lifetime, and they then lose out on the beauty of words sculpted to form images and emotions. I think they miss out on a lot.

That is why I think one thing we need to do is push modern poetry more. I'm not saying the classic works aren't vital still - everyone should read Keats, and Browning and Shelley and Dickinson. But those poems are written in a language and style often over a century out of date, with words and images most people today can't relate to - I did not know myself what a "kirtle" was til I read Christopher Marlowe's poem, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, and then I looked it up. So imagine your average person today picking up the same poem, someone whose world consists of a full time job, full time kids, a kitchen to clean and a dog to feed. Yes, the poem is passionate and sweeping, and a beautiful, timeless piece of writing. But I think people need to see that poetry didn't freeze in time before the car was invented. They need to see that poetry of today is in synch with the time and world they live in.

Show the people around you the poems being written today. Tell them about poets like Diane Ackerman, Charles Simic, Ted Hughes, Billy Collins and the hundreds of other modern poets. They need to see that poets are out there right now, writing about life as we now it... about the war, about AIDS, about children, about schools, about sports, about love, divorce and birth and death... poetry is so alive today, and there is a brilliant world around us that is being captured in words even as you read this... even as you write your own poems. Let them see the visions and emotions being written about today in plain English, images that they can feel and relate to... then they will see that poetry has evolved, has in fact never stopped evolving and changing, and it is still as important today as it ever was... buy a friend or loved one a book of poems... get them Billy Collin's "Poetry 180", or Ted Hughes' "Birthday Letters" or Pablo Neruda's "The Captain's Verses"... inscribe it with love to them, and let them discover poetry fresh.

Then they will want to seek out the classic works again... they will want to look at the roots of this family tree of imagery... they will remember the poems they had to memorize in high school, the authors names and titles... and they will see that it is all a thread from those distant years and writers, extending to the writers of today.

Guide them to Shakespeare as well... I know it is difficult sometimes to read, and I have to say that when I first got into reading The Bard, thanks God for those editions of his works that had the modern translations on the facing pages. But the trick to me was, you read one or two plays, get a feel for the language, and then it clicks inside. After that, the plays and sonnets become a pleasure to read, and you don't need the translation pages for help. Another key to me was to read Shakespeare aloud, they way the words were meant to be used... these are plays after all. I remember years back, first getting into Shakespeare, and I would always carry a few of his works with me wherever I went. Sometimes I'd be waiting in an empty kitchen, killing time til a bus or ride was due, and I'd pull out one of the plays I was working through and read the lines out loud to the empty room. And it really worked, it opened up a sense of flow and life to the words, and the difficult words and phrases suddenly made sense.

Simply stated, I'm just saying, don't give up on your friends, family and loved ones who roll their eyes at your poetry and poetry books. A lot of people have been given bad tastes of poetry in their younger lives, and the flavor remains. But part of being a poet, being a writer, is working to change that attitude. Working to bring peoples' attention back to poetry and helping them get in touch with all that it can bring to their lives. Find a simply beautiful simple poem and read it to someone. Start small. Share.