chris

Poetry is a form of art; it’s a way of expressing something in an untraditional manner. 

When you think of poetry, you’re most likely picturing those old guys writing about loneliness ,and that’s what many people have been exposed to. But that’s not all poetry has to offer. While many students have read poems by authors that aren’t relevant to our day and age, it’s important to realize the significance of poetry. 

Poetry shows it’s relevance in so many ways in our lives. Earlier in the year, Amanda Gorman was named the National Youth Poet Laureate and spoke at the 2020 presidential election with her poem, “The Hill We Climb”. Similarly, Joy Harjo, the 2019 national poet laureate, the first Native American to gain that honor, stunned people with her telling poem, “Remember.”

Poetry is so much more than sentences that are complicated, and sentence structure. One of the reasons it’s so important is because it offers context to settings and time periods that people may not fully grasp.  It helps to show the reader the reasoning behind many ideas expressed in such work. Poetry helps readers to gain a new perspective of things that they may not have otherwise thought about, and it helps to evoke a sense of independence to the self. It allows people to form their own opinions based on the information that they learn and the different perspectives that they see. 

Words have the power to create hope and comfort. It is especially important in this era, where so many people come from so many different backgrounds. Poetry is something that binds us together by connecting peoples, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings to create something beautiful. It allows for people to be vulnerable so that we, as a society can understand each other better.
There are so many awesome modern poets that are worth reading such as Maya Angelou, Sherman Alexie, Erin Hanson, and many more. These poets all offer something different in their writings, yet they all evoke a sense of understanding and connection. 

With National Poetry Month in April, I encourage you to reexamine what poetry really is and the diversity that it has with it. There is so much beautiful poetry out there that deserves to be recognized.