Behind the Ivy - Summer 2018

SUMMER ISSUE |  BEHIND THE IVY

WH Y P O E T RY I S AWE S OM E

MADDI E TANZOLA

In the past, the word “poetry” caused thousands of questions to float around my head. It made me uncomfortable, because I didn’t understand it. The thought of rhyming irritated me, as did using “flowery words” that made it harder to get my point across. Poetry, in my eyes, was something that was used centuries ago, particularly by Shakespeare and in the form of sonnets. It wasn’t until this year, when I began to open my eyes just a little more widely by exploring contemporary poems in Writer’s Craft, that my overall perception of poetry changed. I’ve learned that there is no set definition of poetry, which is why it is hard to understand. Poetry means different things to different people, although an overarching purpose of poetry is that it makes us imagine, sense, and wonder. For example, American poet Emily Dickinson once said, “If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry.” Reading poetry truly is a feeling, one in which we can immerse ourselves in a new world, as a means of escaping this reality and exploring new ones.

Furthermore, poetry also allows language to spring to life. It’s like a recipe for a chocolate cake, where each word is an ingredient that must be perfectly mixed together in order to craft the most delicious dessert. Poets think critically about choosing the best words, in the right order, on the exact location of the page, with the goal of making the words jump off the page for the reader. After learning what poetry actually is, I’ve found that I admire how poetry breaks rules and that I like how there is no right answer in poetry. Not being given an answer used to frighten me, because this is something that we are not used to. At school, the answer keys are always posted on Veracross and, in the world, we often look up to our leaders to help solve the problems we don’t know how to fix ourselves. However, at the end of a poem, there isn’t an answer key or someone to ask for the answers. There isn’t a checklist to see if you’ve felt all the right emotions. In fact, the next page is usually blank or filled with another poem: a poem which inspires you to imagine, sense, wonder, or reflect on how it differs from the poem that you just finished

reading.

This is the beauty of poetry: there is always more. Poetry is always in motion as it never completely ends. Even when you finish a powerful poem, you will never be able to forget the words and emotions you felt while reading it. The delicately crafted imagery will always resonate somewhere within you. For this reason, I think poetry is amazing, and I am grateful to be able to appreciate it. We are lucky to be able to read and write pieces of work that have no wrong answers and are free of judgement. Therefore, I encourage everyone to pick up a poetry book from the bookstore, read The Bluestocking , or even just grab a pen and let your mind wander as you write your own poetry. Trust me, it’s easier than you think. Nobody can tell you it isn’t good enough because, as long as someone feels some sort of emotion towards it, then it is poetry.

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