While it is true we write
poetry for the sheer enjoyment of expression, and the delight of crafting words
that resonate with our experience, it is also true that poetry has other reasons,
other purposes.
A poet writes of the
irony of life. The irony of loneliness
in love; the irony of beauty in ugliness, the irony of tears that may be tears
of joy or sadness. We need to be
reminded of irony lest we take life too seriously and forget to smile and to
laugh. Poetry helps us to remember to
smile.
A poet points beyond
the appearance of things, not to what is for who know what is? The love we think we have, may in hindsight
simply be hormonal infatuation. The
anger we hold within may mellow to something more compassionate with time and
understanding. Our enemies may turn into
friends and friends into enemies – who knows?
The poet points
to what may be. We point to a shaft of
light that may grace us with a different perspective. For we write, not so much for the
reader as for ourselves the writer. We write to give
ourselves perspective, to shine a shaft of light onto our pain, to brighten our
happiness; to enhance the beauty we see and feel.
Then having written, we cast it out there
into the public arena. We set it free,
to point to what may be.
In freeing our words, we
also allow ourselves to grow in courage.
The courage to own our experience, the courage to move beyond our
experience, the courage to say “I felt this but I am not this”. For our words may describe us, yet they
cannot define us, for what points cannot be the thing it points to.
Poetry helps us smile
and laugh, it points to what may be and gifts us with the grace of courage.
A truly great post David, I relate to every word. Not sure if you ever read my post 'The World of Words' but that is how I feel about writing. We all write for different reasons but we will agree that it becomes as essential as breathing. Have a good weekend :-)
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