Poetry

Since it is a slow day here at Anthology, I feel this would be an appropriate time to write a blog. Poetry. So much can be said about poetry. Poetry comes in many forms. The sonnet, song, haiku, and prose are only a few. Poetry often contains rhyme, metaphor, or alliteration, but not always. Poetry, I think, is almost as old as language itself. Some of the oldest poetry that comes to mind is Homer's Odyssey, the Psalms of the Old Testament, or even the ancient Hindu Vedas. For me, almost nothing speaks as much to the human soul as poetry. Poetry, as is all art, is appreciated and interpreted in the eye of the beholder. It has the power to bring joy, emanate love, sadness, or any other range of emotion either intended by the author or not. But above all, I feel that poetry has the power to transform the consciousness of the reader and the author. Many poets speak of the healing and meditative effects of composing and reading poetry. From experience I have discovered that poetry can be created in a sort of automatic fashion, growing straight from the subconscious mind, to manifest thought or emotion that cannot always be expressed by the rational mind. Poems are always subject to interpretation. Poems, like dreams, can have layers of interpretation. The initial reaction of the reader is almost always different when the poem is read again, at a different pace, different time or in a different light. I find that the meaning of poems often shifts when read more than once. So the meaning of a poem is a plastic, malleable concept, limited only by the consciousness of the reader. From my perspective, poetry is a very noble and beautiful art form, limited only by the human imagination, which the collective history and experience of, has proven to be infinite. I encourage all readers, whether you consider yourself to be a poetry reader or not, to occasionally dive head first into a poem. It is a much smaller commitment than a novel, and you just never know, it may change your whole perspective of life.
To end here, I will quote one of my favorite poems:

Ring the bells that still can ring,
Forget your perfect offering,
There is a crack in everything,
That's how the light gets in.
-Leonard Cohen

Have a wonderful weekend!