Poetry is a form of self-expression through writing that has been used for centuries. Poetry can be short, long, it can rhyme, tell a story, describe our world, express our feelings and so on.
It can also be a page of stanzas filled with bulls***.
Say whaaaa….
Yes, you read it correctly, I’m not a big fan of poetry because I can’t write it, therefore I cannot trully appreciate it’s beauty and art.
Take sixth grade me for example, we were doing a poetry unit in class and had to write a new poem every night for a week and of course, I didn’t do any of them. This led to a conference with my mother and teacher, where they explained to me the importance of doing my homework on time; all the while I was trying to get them to understand my rationale behind not doing it. Over the years of having to explain to people why I don’t like writing poetry, I’ve been able to perfect my answer.
Poetry is so beautiful and has so much depth, that I feel as though I am literally ruining poetry when I write it myself. Poetry is a sacred thing for a lot of people, and when I was sitting in that sixth grade classroom, writing all five poems so I wouldn’t fail English, I encountered the concept of BS writing and realized I was spewing it all over these poems.
My sixth grade teacher wanted quantity over quality and I gave her exactly what she was looking for. I wish I still had those poems today to show you that I actually am a terrible poet but instead I thought I’d write one right here to embarass myself further.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I can’t write poetry
Please don’t try and get me to
See, I can’t even make a good bad poem if I wanted to.
Poetry should make readers feel raw emotion and should come from a deep place in your mind/body/soul. Poetry written by someone who doesn’t care what they’re putting down on that page (i.e. myself) isn’t bad because it’s poorly written necessarily, it’s bad because it isn’t genuine.
Poetry should never be ingenuine.