Learn. Grow. Give.

Poetry 2.0

Well, April is on its way out; another National Poetry Month comes to a close. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to talk about poetry and hope you have gotten something out of it, too. For the last guest post, I thought I would talk about two related issues regarding poetry: popular perception and its place in the (very) digital age.

For part the first, I have been asking people what they think of poetry. It seems for every person who loves poetry out there, there are at least three who roll their eyes at the very mention of it. In response, I have even been asked to defend my own affinity for it. For years I hemmed and hawed about its rich heritage in cultures all over the globe. I’ve defended its existence in counterpoint to the greed and selfishness we see around us at increasing levels. I think I even once proclaimed that the right poetry could save us all. These answers were usually met with a second eye roll relegating me to some artsy dimension where sonnets flow from loudspeakers and teachers hand out daisies at lunchtime. Only lately have I really come up with my real answer to the question of why I like poetry: “Because I found mine.” After years of reading, studying, and attempting to write poetry, I have realized that saying you don’t like poetry is very much like saying you don’t like music. With its styles and flavors ranging from Chopin to Dizzy Gillespie to Low to Ice-T, it is laughable to most of us that someone would, part and parcel, proclaim not to like music. The same goes, believe it or not, for poetry. Go read “Archaic Torso of Apollo.” Not your style? Try a page from Bukowski’s Dangling in the Tournefortia. How about Howl by Ginsburg? In each generation there is a wide breadth of style and voice at your disposal. I honestly believe those who say they don’t like poetry just haven’t found the poetry that speaks to them. If you do, watch out. Your world just might open up right in front of you.

Moreover, the written page is but one medium through which to experience poetry these days. Musical accompaniment of performed poetry has around for decades and still flourishes today. Either recorded or in person you can find a range of work read with everything from jazz (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/index.html?curid=17347443) to classical music (http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/press/archive/pr_030309.html) to experimental sound art. I come across new sites on the Internet regularly which are taking poetry’s words and facilitating their next evolutionary step. Collaborations with digital media are offering up some very engaging possibilities on sites like Born Magazine (http://www.bornmagazine.org/) seek to connect penster and tech artist to create something leveraging both worlds. The Hold (http://the-hold.blogspot.com/) opens the door for uploadable mixes of your own. These new combinations, made possible by a technology that might seem in opposition to poetry are, in fact, taking it to new levels-levels which just may help it connect better with our 21^st century psyches.

So, as National Poetry Month comes to a close, I have to smile. I know it doesn’t end with April. It never does. Whether it’s being mashed with multimedia or wafting above an alto sax in some jazz club somewhere or just dancing on the pages an old, worn book; go look and listen for poetry. It’s popping up in more places than ever. It IS spring, after all.

Question:

Have you discovered any poetry this month? What has struck you and why? We’d love to hear about it!