The Purpose of Poetry
There are a lot of bad things in the world. We all know it. Sometimes it’s so bad that we want a form of escape. Some choose TV, video games, nature, music, and even poetry to escape the world.
What forms a culture? Tradition, religion and art, usually. Take any culture, and you may think of their sports, creations and artists, whether they be painters or architects or writers. These are all forms of escape. Even looking at an architectural wonder can provide a sense of peace. This might be a well-designed bridge, building, stadium or even a dam.
Poetry is a lesser-known escapism. Reading or writing poems can bring relief. Rumi, Khalil Gibran, Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, ee cummings, Walt Whitman, Fernando Pessoa, and many others are cherished by millions for their words. Words can have a great impact on the collective consciousness of a people. Words dig deep into us and illuminate something we didn’t know we had inside us. The best poetry brings out the good in us; gives us hope in a world of chaos.
Poetry is best when used in simple terms. Pretentious poetry is like a faint whisper—unheard, forgotten. And that kind of poetry has its audience. But it might provide a bad aftertaste for the typical reader. Some poetry drives people away. That might explain Charles Bukowski’s popularity, since he appeals to working class or, really, the majority of people, whereas many of the traditional poets might have appealed to those that read and understood all the greatest literature and whom could understand a poem with references to twenty different mythical and historical references. Although, Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, and many other poets appeal to the people. Robert Frost wrote about his farm, chopping wood and walking in the woods. Mary Oliver spoke of the nearby pond she’d visit and her meditations on life.
Nature goes well with poetry. Nature, of course, is us. We are nature, and the same goes for planets, soil, stars, and everything else in the universe. We are everything in one. In that sense, we are poetry as well.
What does poetry give us? Maybe the whole universe. Life can be poetry itself. Live as a poem, and your life will be poetry.
But what kind of poem? Happy, sad, an in-between state? Most of life is lived in this in-between state of happiness and sadness. We feel neither, which isn’t good or bad.
Poems can bring us joy, tears, love, and even disgust for corruption. Poems can bring out something hidden in us, like the ‘shadow’ that Carl Jung speaks about in his books.
Anyone can write a poem. A haiku poem can be written within a minute or less. It’s simply a three-line poem referencing a season. Afterward, you can experiment and write about anything you want.
I have this odd dream where everyone writes a poem a day, because in this silence we become what we are. We don’t force out the poem; we let go and let the words be given to us. This may sound spiritual. It can be, if you let it. I think all great art seems to come from an intelligence outside of ourselves; give it whatever name: consciousness, god, universe, etc. All inventions, too, like Nikola Tesla had mentioned near the end of his life, were products of a ‘feeling’ that drove him to create.
What is the purpose of poetry? You’ll find a different answer from each person you ask. But that’s wonderful about it. Poetry, like songs, mean something different for each person. But the essence of both are emotions. There needs to be great feelings to create great art; otherwise it is a void, empty, without much to provide to the world. Write a great poem and you may give everything the reader needed in that moment: comfort, peace, calm, happiness or much more.
What does poetry mean to you?