It’s okay that your poem doesn’t make sense
It’s okay that the words don’t have as much meaning to others as they do to you
Because it’s your poem.
Now more than ever our mental health should be a priority. Expressing your feelings down onto a page can mean so much more than just slapping words together. It may be a jumble of words and emotions to someone who reads it, but to you . . .
It’s how you feel every day,
Or it’s how one specific person makes you feel,
Or it can be a whole plethora of what you’re feeling from one second to the next.
It doesn’t have to be poetry. It can be fiction, music, or it can even be art. Write that terrible fanfiction. Write that story you’ve been thinking about since you were 6. And draw whatever you want to because you want to.
Art is your feelings put down on paper, and there is nothing more beautiful than that.
Never let anyone discourage you from creating. Because creativity and imagination are what we need to hold onto, especially now.
So bad writers, keep writing badly. Because good and bad doesn’t matter when it comes to art. Art is our emotions, and our emotions are us. Show people your you. If they don’t like it, it doesn’t mean they don’t like you. It means they don’t understand you. But there will be others who will. One story and one poem can change someone’s life.
Your words can be someone’s savior. They can be someone’s bible that they pore over every night when they’re alone. Words that stay with them throughout their day when they’re struggling. They will remember your words and find the strength to do what they need to do.
There will be some people who don’t like your words. Your poem won’t connect with them, and that’s okay. It wasn’t meant to.
But some people need to forget about the political debates,
Or that instagram influencer,
Or that mean comment someone left on their poem.
Your words can be that respite. They can be an oasis in the desert of social media, political turmoil, and cancel culture.
So write that poem that you know is bad but you love it anyway. Display your talent or your non-talent, show people the you you want them to see, instead of the you they assume you are.
And remember that it doesn’t matter, bad poets. Everyone writes bad poetry. Everyone wants to read bad poetry, because they want to know you.