About

Poetry is one of those things you either enjoy or dislike.  I’m always surprised by the ferocity of hate from those who dislike it — and I think it’s because poetry is something you have to grasp as a concept unto itself, and those who hate it, don’t get it.  And not because it’s complex, but because they’ve never been shown the way.

I originally got into poetry not because I’m a huge fan of the art form, but because it’s a wonderful tool for sharpening a writer’s sense of word-pictures and brevity.  Once I became immursed in the various forms and began writing and reading it for pleasure, I suddenly “got it,” understood what it’s about — not merely to “woo women” as stated in a certian movie you may have seen, but it’s a whole other frame of mind, like appreciating a beautiful painting that you can’t see — only hear.

In a way, poetry is more like music than it is literature. Very much so, in fact. And it’s more like a painting than it is a story.

I urge you to give it a chance, to challenge yourself to figure it out, and enrich your human experience in doing so.

And let me dispell a falsehood right here and now: Poetry is not for sissies. You get from it what you are willing to put into it.