Does Poetry Still Matter?

To whom does it matter?  Today we read Marianne Moore's "Poetry" where the first line begins, "I, too, dislike it..." Yet she offers flash images of bats, elephants, horses, base-ball... She finds something genuine that we sense yet may not be able to put to words.  As readers of poetry, we are reluctant to tie it to Billy's chair and whip the poem senseless, interrogating it as we try to find meaning.  We side with Moore in her frustration with (lack of) understanding.  We read poems outside the circle of trust; inside jokes are never funny - to outsiders.

Poems force us to pause, to read, to think, and to reread, and then read more in order to find meaning.  Frankly, we are lazy, myself included at times - we don't want to work for it.  We rather watch a movie or read Sparknotes.  

Yet once we start to make connections between poets over time like a family of tree, we enter the conversation.  At first, we must listen.  Then once we've read enough and heard enough, we share in the conversation.  

So where do we begin?  Well, what Frost poem interests you - what moves you?  Select a poem and paste to this page as a published post.  Introduce the poem with relevant information from Frost's life.  Below the poem, write a paragraph as to why it spoke to you.  

I will share an example later tonight.