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Is poetry relevant?
Surely in our modern world, where we have learned to record the human experience in so many other ways, there is no longer room for poems.
Or should we look beyond the minute?
Sculptures crumble, glass and pottery break. Paintings and photographs and books turn to dust, plastic cracks and fades, metal eventually corrode. Digital media is even more fragile, and requires us to constantly interface with machines. Only gold and diamonds truly last, but how many have the wealth to hoard these?
Poetry however, endures, even among those who do not mean to preserve it.
The doggerel we learned on the playground, a reminder of childhood, is nestled, safe, within each of us. In times of hardship, the lines of our favorite songs immediately come to mind, ready to console us. When overwhelmed by tragedy, we repeat scraps of poetry as comforting mantras for our grief.
The fact that poetry exists and persists in each of us shows just how accessible poetry is.
A poem is art, but art without barriers.
A poem doesn't care about impressing others. It can reach an audience of millions, or it can speak solely to one person. A poem doesn't judge others by their wealth or class or knowledge. It can be written down by a king or spring from the mind of an illiterate beggar.
A poem doesn't look for material goods. It can live in a gilded mansion, and still be content to sleep with the homeless in the street. A poem doesn't care about skill or talent. It can be set to music and played by a master, or rely on nothing more than the rhythm of a person's stride.
A poem doesn't understand limitations. A poem will entrust itself to the hands of the mute and the lips of the frail, becoming all the more beautiful for that. A poem doesn't accept oppression. A poet can be tortured, imprisoned, enslaved, even killed - but a poem will always remain free, requiring only willing tongues and minds to spread its message.
Is poetry relevant?
Do we want to live in a world where it isn't?
~minhocao
Is poetry relevant?
Surely in our modern world, where we have learned to record the human experience in so many other ways, there is no longer room for poems.
Or should we look beyond the minute?
Sculptures crumble, glass and pottery break. Paintings and photographs and books turn to dust, plastic cracks and fades, metal eventually corrode. Digital media is even more fragile, and requires us to constantly interface with machines. Only gold and diamonds truly last, but how many have the wealth to hoard these?
Poetry however, endures, even among those who do not mean to preserve it.
The doggerel we learned on the playground, a reminder of childhood, is nestled, safe, within each of us. In times of hardship, the lines of our favorite songs immediately come to mind, ready to console us. When overwhelmed by tragedy, we repeat scraps of poetry as comforting mantras for our grief.
The fact that poetry exists and persists in each of us shows just how accessible poetry is.
A poem is art, but art without barriers.
A poem doesn't care about impressing others. It can reach an audience of millions, or it can speak solely to one person. A poem doesn't judge others by their wealth or class or knowledge. It can be written down by a king or spring from the mind of an illiterate beggar.
A poem doesn't look for material goods. It can live in a gilded mansion, and still be content to sleep with the homeless in the street. A poem doesn't care about skill or talent. It can be set to music and played by a master, or rely on nothing more than the rhythm of a person's stride.
A poem doesn't understand limitations. A poem will entrust itself to the hands of the mute and the lips of the frail, becoming all the more beautiful for that. A poem doesn't accept oppression. A poet can be tortured, imprisoned, enslaved, even killed - but a poem will always remain free, requiring only willing tongues and minds to spread its message.
Is poetry relevant?
Do we want to live in a world where it isn't?
~minhocao
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Minhocaofrom USA |
MY TEXTS, Archive 49 Texts
2011-29 - 2011-07-21
2011-28 (1) - 2011-07-21
2011-27 (1) - 2011-07-20
2011-26 (1) - 2011-07-20
2011-25 (1) - 2011-07-20
2011-24 - 2011-07-17
2011-23 - 2011-07-17
2011-22 - 2011-07-17
2011-21 - 2011-07-17
2011-20 - 2011-07-16
2011-19 (1) - 2011-07-16
2011-18 (1) - 2011-07-16
2011-17 - 2011-07-13
2011-16 - 2011-07-13
2011-15 (1) - 2011-07-09
2011-14 - 2011-07-09
2011-13 (1) - 2011-07-09
2011-12 - 2011-07-08
2011-11 (1) - 2011-07-08
2011-10 - 2011-07-03
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