Think of your favorite song lyrics and why you like them. Chances are the singer has a message or expresses something you enjoy to hear about. Maybe it’s not so much the words themselves but the way they say them or the way the words blend into each other. Guess what; that is poetry.
Poetry is not just a cheesy rhyme for Hallmark cards or just the occasional Robert Frost poem stored in the back of your mind. Poetry is a way to express deep emotions from unrequited love, the pressure to confirm, the death of a loved one or the daily struggles of life.
Poetry is not dead and it is not only the puzzling language of Paradise Lost or something that only English majors care about. Poetry is all around us, from song lyrics to Facebook posts. The truth is that no one can define poetry, because as soon as they do, someone comes along to write something that shatters that definition. It can rhyme, or it cannot, it can be written in whole sentences or in a few letters — the form doesn’t matter.
The main thing is that there should be emotion. Keep in mind the opposite of love is not hate, it is apathy where instead of feeling something, especially something strong like deep seeded hatred, there is nothing at all. A good poem will make you want to talk about it and keep thinking it long into the night but a great poem will make you want to scream or take action of some sort.
The best poems I have read I cannot say I like, and as a matter of fact make me mad. I have to struggle to understand why the poet even wrote them and I don’t like what they have to say, but sometimes life is like that, we don’t like what we see. Reading about how life is all rainbows and sunshine doesn’t push anyone’s worldview but there is something out there that will.
In poetry, life is full of wonder but also cold, dark, and cruel, and everything in between. Anyone can be a poet, even with out trying to be. There is a beauty to both the written and spoken language that comes with crafting and spinning stories and planting images and yes the occasional rhyme.
Rappers are not the only poets of the millennial generation: anyone can be a poet. Try to express the heartbreak that comes when that special someone won’t look your way, the satisfaction of seeing the mountains covered in snow or the feeling of being crushed by your own expectations.
Poetry is not simply something reserved for hipsters in coffee shops, but is a living and breathing art form.
