ABOUT ME
I DON'T LOVE IT...
I don't love how many of us were conditioned early on to fear poetry. Somewhere along the way, poetry became a test, something to decode, dissect, or even dread. A fear of being wrong, of not understanding, of not being "smart enough" pushes people away from something that is meant to pull us in.
I don't love how rarely poetry appears in society. Our desire for instant pay-offs is at direct odds with poetry's strange magic.
I don't love the phrase “I don’t get poetry,” especially when it's worn like a badge of honor. It is said with a shrug, a dismissive chuckle, or a trace of pride, like poetry is some distant, fussy thing meant only for academics. We never say “I don’t get music” or “I don’t get movies." We trust that these forms will meet us where we are. "Getting poetry" is presented as something we are either born understanding or destined to avoid. You really don't need to "get" poetry to engage with it and likely be moved!
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