Happy Monday, Friends, Followers, Fiends,
Felons, perhaps? (Hey, I’m not here to judge).
If you weren’t aware, April is National Poetry Month, which just *begs* the question: what is poetry?!
As a former English major and current poet, I have lots to say on this particular topic.
First-what it isn’t.
· Poetry doesn’t have to rhyme
· Poetry doesn’t have to be written in stanzas
· Poetry doesn’t have to be arranged in neat lines on the page
Poetry can do anything and everything prose can do. It can:
· Tell a story
· Describe a landscape
· Reflect inner thoughts or emotions
· Commemorate a person or place
· Tell a joke
· Lament a profound loss
And much more.
You might have heard poetry referred to as, “verse,” and that gets to the heart of the matter for me.
Poetry is as versatile as song. And it is meant to be spoken. It has all of the elements of piece of music. It has the rhythm you give it, the emphasis you choose. It can be the frenetic rush of someone late to work or the silence of a snowy vista or the pitter-patter of rain on a tin roof.
Here’s a piece I wrote called “Emptiness.” Read for you. Because lyrics on the page fail to capture the tune, and, likewise, a written poem fails to encapsulate the emotion and flow and rhythm of the words.
If you like what you’ve heard, please consider ordering your free digital copy of my book, All the Things I was Not Taught. All I ask is an honest review. Because that’s how we grow, improve, become.