ABOUT ME
I DON'T LOVE IT...
I don't love how many of us were conditioned early to fear poetry instead of feel it. Somewhere along the way, poetry seemed to became a test rather than a touchstone—something to decode, dissect, and dread. This fear—of being wrong, of not understanding, of not being smart enough—pushes people away from what is meant to pull them in. But the beautiful thing is poetry is patient! It won't expire or lock us out. We can return to it at any time and find something meaningful.
I don't love how seldom we see poetry's presence in our society. Our desire for instant pay-offs stifles poetry's slow, strange magic. Some of the most powerful poems don’t scream; they whisper. But our world is wired for speed and spectacle and those whispers are easy to miss. When poetry does appear in the spotlight, it’s usually because it’s clever, clickable, or riding a trend—not when it is quietly doing its deeper work.
I don't love the phrase “I don’t get poetry,” especially when it's worn like a badge of honor. Often, it is said with a shrug, a chuckle, even a trace of pride—like poetry is some distant, fussy thing meant only for academics. It feels like there is a quiet dismissal underneath that phrase. We don’t say “I don’t get music” or “I don’t get movies” with the same certainty, because we trust those forms meet us where we are. Somehow, poetry has been cast as something we are either born understanding or are destined to avoid. You really don't need to "get" poetry to be moved by it.
Gallery
