Why Write Poetry

Warm air touches me

eavesdropping sparrows, typing

Clouds blanket us all

A picture is worth a thousand words; if so, a poem is worth ten thousand. With a poem, you can capture a moment, your moment, from the past, the present, even from the future. Poetry is qualia made flesh. 

You don't have to follow rules; you can follow rules, research rules, enjoy playing with rules. You can dig into poetry, work on poetry, read reams of poetry, or scribble lines on your phone as they come to you. You might have the impression that poetry is obscure, off-putting, for other people; in fact, poetry is easy and accessible and for you. 

With poetry you can go wherever you want.

Take a photograph: we all have treasured pictures. Taking a picture, we try to capture a moment, or add something to a moment. To get a picture, we might need a camera, or a phone, to take the photograph, take many photographs, usually, then sort the photographs, edit them, then print the final selection. With a poem, you can speak directly from your mind's eye, rather than try to replicate what your eye saw. A photograph can be a great thing but a poem can be a snapshot of what the camera can't reach.

With poetry you can reach, and you can use all the old forms of poetry to support your reach, or find your own way to reach out. 

A poem can be a lullaby or righteous anger, a memory or a travelogue, an exposure of the heart or a thank you note. A poem can be a comment on what happened today. You don't have to plan or structure or add a burden. You don't have to set yourself targets, delve into archives, or wear a straightjacket. You can write a poem in a tram or in a field.

With poetry you can touch the world and leave it at that.

© Bryn Roberts 2023

Published 9 July 2023