It is when life is unable to endure the pain of silence that it breaks into a cry which is poetry…

– Lady Margaret Sackville of England

I am concerned about the acceptance of poetry and its role within the literary landscape of our existence. Is it serving the purpose intended if only poets and academics are reading it? Poetry is taught in school like it is a piece of a whole to be remembered only long enough for a test, not as a food meant to be savored; instead, like a stick of gum chewed until the flavor is gone and spit into a garbage can.

Poetry is the power running through our lives. (Tweet This) It can be seen in sunlight bouncing off clouds and filtering through trees. Poetry is in the smell of a crisp fall morning and in the silence of midnight darkness. It can be felt in the wind holding up the eagle’s wings and in the dying breath of a loved one. Poetry runs through and around all there is. It is the motion, the rhythm, the flow, and musical notes of the world. Poetry is emotion stripped down to its core, the essence of our Spirit, our soul.

To me it seems as if when God conceived the world, that was poetry.

– Charlotte Cushman

Sadly, the majority of society is missing it. They are too consumed with overbooked schedules, children’s sport teams, and reality television to see the poetry. Too busy deciphering the white noise from the media fallacies to hear it. How can written poetry be appreciated when natural poetry is overlooked?

How could we love without the words to express it? Would “I love you” mean the same if there wasn’t the Song of Solomon, Sonnet 43 or Roses Are Red? Could a sunset fill our senses with awe if poetry wasn’t there adding meaning to the sight?

Words are communication and when used in the form of poetry or poetic prose they communicate to us what our senses, our mind, our heart, and our soul are feeling. A poet bleeds lyrical blood upon the page in an attempt to describe and bring life to the world around us so we too may savor in the melodic aroma enveloping us. By feeding on poetic lines, we can better understand, appreciate more, and be closer to the poetic universe around us.

Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.

– Robert Frost

Poets take the reader into the depths of emotions they may never experience. They make us think deeper about topics because the words used to portray are the most powerful to create the desired intensity of the poem in the shortest amount of words.

Poetry should be read by everyone. It should be consumed like food. Find your favorite poet or poets and begin seeing the world in a whole new way.

Inspired by Paul F. Lenzi’s excellent essay titled “Biology of Poetry“.