Sometimes I think writing poetry is taking the easy way
out. I think most people will agree that
it is easier than writing novels or
non-fiction. The poet doesn’t need to put forth a story
line. The meaning of a poem is supposed
to come out through images and a creative and often ironic use of words. Many
of the poems I read are translated, perhaps that’s what gives me the feeling
sometimes that a poem which has provoked my interest, at some point, will seem
to fall off a cliff.
But yes, poems are
fun, fun to write even if the subject is tragic, wherein the poem can be said
to be ‘redemptive’ or ‘healing’ or both. I suppose a reader of poetry might find
comfort in a poem but really any healing or redemption would accrue only to the
person writing the poem.
I’ve listened to some really good poetry and some really bad
poetry in the genre called ‘hip-hop.’ I can only guess how others feel about it
but my same judgement would apply to the kind of poetry people think of when
someone says ‘poetry.’
There’s a lot of uninteresting published poetry out there in
what we call ‘free verse.’ In my mind, all poetry is on the same level,
whether it comes to you from a gifted and creative hood rat or trailer park
citizen or from academia. Many people
may disagree, of course, and perhaps they would be right. I’m a flawed individual, open to
improvement. Perhaps someone show me
where I’m wrong in my estimation.
Hip-hop is often poetic,
making use of the same conventions as high-brow poetry and sometimes to better
effect. It has a large audience. Huge
numbers of people get meaning from it. Highbrow poetry can mean something too but no
one seems to notice when it doesn’t and no one dares criticize it:
Was, Then Wasn’t
when a star fell
ruining my sky and leaving nothing
except a stray angel
to cancel the razor blades
the thin ice between my skin and the
dark
melting away
brain pounding like a runaway train
following broken conversations
written upon the bricks of old walls
my heart about to open again or fall
once again to the rocks below
when suddenly awakened, breaking free
I clawed my way out of there
leaving that damned place forever
that dark hell
that place that was, and then wasn’t
