Discussion: Does anyone even really read poetry?

[Jefftildeath]

George Carlin said it best (he usually does), "More people write poetry than read it."

For myself, this is 100% true. I'll read some stuff on here, and I can listen to spoken word for hours, but I never read poetry from books or anything like that.

Anyone else like that?

 

[(Wordy)]

George Carlin said it best (he usually does), "More people write poetry than read it."

Very true. This is a topic that's close to my heart.

I'll read some stuff on here, and I can listen to spoken word for hours, but I never read poetry from books or anything like that.

Why is that?

Personally, I read poetry practically every day. And not just on Bluelight either. Books, magazines, journals, and a lot of stuff on the web. What can I say... poetry, words and writing are my life.

I also read poetry manuscripts professionally. And reading the manuscripts of poets hoping to be published really makes the truth hit home: there are actually people out there who are taking the writing of poetry very seriously, who don't take the reading of poetry seriously at all. Or so it seems. Many manuscripts that I see suggest that the writer hasn't read very much poetry, or at least not much poetry published since, say, 1950 (or even earlier in some cases).

The way I see it, it's a different story if you're not writing for publication, but you're writing for yourself, or perhaps for people close to you. Poetry, and creative writing in general, can be a great outlet for coming to grips with emotions, relationships, loss, etc. It's a great way of getting to know yourself better, expressing who you are, what you think and feel. Nonetheless, even for these types of writers, I find it a little strange that in a lot of cases, they don't seek out and read other people's poetry. Some people have one favourite poet, and want to write like them, and don't read the work of other poets. I don't have a problem with any of this, but I do find it strange. I mean, you don't find many musicians who don't listen to music, or amateur filmmakers who don't watch films, do you?!

The thing with poetry is that it's so easy for many people, in fact almost natural, to pick up a pen and paper and just write things down. Writing a journal comes very close to writing poetry - and I'd argue that some people write poetry in lieu of a journal. Some of the poetry posted in Words seems to be like that. An analogy for this would be photography: it's so easy to get a camera, point and click, and take photos of moments in your life. There are millions of amateur photographers the world over, and I'd guess that the vast majority don't go out of their way to seek out the work of artistic photographers in galleries or whatever. Writing a poem to capture a moment in your life isn't unlike taking a photograph. It's like a mental/emotional photograph I guess. So if I compare amateur poetry writing to amateur photography, the whole thing sort of makes sense.

Also, I think a lot of people don't read poetry, and contemporary poetry especially, because they find it hard to find stuff that they like, or that speaks to them in some way. Poetry is not marketed and targeted and packaged in the same way as films or novels or music or whatever: you have to go out of your way to be a detective and uncover the good stuff. It probably won't find you - you have to find it! Or you need friends who know their stuff who can recommend stuff to you. I'm here to help if anyone wants any recommendations!

 

[Raz]

Actually yeah, I know totally where you're coming from Jeff....I rarely chase poetry outside of this forum - I think like Wordy said, poetry isn't something which is really marketed and packaged in the same way that other art forms are so you do really have to have more of a drive to find it.

Also, I enjoy reading other people's work for the emotional connection a lot of the time and it's easier for me to connect to that within a community like bluelight where I already feel very involved rather than from some random person I don't have any investment in..

 

[Jefftildeath]

It's weird, I can read an incredible, well put together, and truly heartfelt poem - and for some reason it just does nothing for me. Nothing stirs in there.

But if the guy who wrote it is reading it and giving proper inflection and accentuating the subtleties, and really givin' it to ya, it kicks my ass.

 

[Khadijah]

I hate to hear people readin poetry. unless its rap. (dont hate.)
but readin it is another story i guess. its better when you put your own meaning into it.

To me havin someone read their own poems, is like if a author wrote a book, and then found people who looked exactly what they imagined their characters to look like, and then posted those pictures in the book so youd know what to imagine the characters as. instead of bein able to keep a image inside your head. that was one of my favorite parts of books as a kid, is havin all those characters to imagine on your own, as your own, they kinda become like friends in a way when you do it like that. poems the same way to me.

but i dont really like readin poetry at all cuz most of it to me seems so fake and not real at all i cant relate to it. thats why i listen to hip hop cuz a well crafted rhyme that speaks about shit *I* feel means alot more than some poem in a stuffy ass book.

 

[pennywise]

Yes I love the beat poets, charles bukowski, and robert frost.

 

[IXinX]

I read a lot of poetry although i am stuck in the modernist age. don't really know anything about the newer stuff.

And i write it oh yes i write it a lot. Pretty much every second day.

It's definitely a large part of my life

and yes its true, more people write it than read it.

Does the latest 'emo' trend facilitate the expressive power of poetry for its own woebegotten purposes?

 

[5-HT2]

I definitely read poetry for its own sake (and to memorize it so I can recite it later). I've recently discovered that poetry is PERFECT for reading on the subway, because you don't get as deeply zoned into it as a good novel, and you have natural breaks between poems.

I also read poetry way more than I write it, because I have a high standard for my own writing and I rarely feel inspired enough to pick up the pen and lay something down.

 

[9mmCensor]

I fell in love with Ginsbergs Howl and bought his complete works, so every now and then I read about more of his stuff.

 

[Khadijah]

i was thinkin. poems are weird. to me, i cant like it or enjoy it at all unless i can relate in some way or i can feel it. If not then its just some annoying mental garbage from someone else. even if its a real good poem, (technically, or the way that some people would judge poetry from a objective standard) i still cant feel even slightly interested in it. and i especially hate readin poems of people i know, if i dont know them that good. i feel like i accidentally looked in their underwear drawer and now everytime i see them ill picture them wearing the underwear i saw or somethin. seems like youd want to share your feelings with your friends but i aint like that, to me its like i got too much information. it makes me uncomfortable to read that shit. hmm...

 

[pennywise]

laceyk have you ever heard of slam poetry or urban fiction? It's like regular writing only from an urban perspective. You might relate better to that, if you were so inclined.

 

[Raz]

I've recently discovered that poetry is PERFECT for reading on the subway, because you don't get as deeply zoned into it as a good novel, and you have natural breaks between poems.

I like that idea....I always like to use my train time productively, but by the time I start writing something I'm usually wherever I'm travelling to, and novels are out because my trips are so short - I like the poetry idea a lot. :D

 

[(Wordy)]

Poetry can be great for reading on public transport. I do that all the time.

but i dont really like readin poetry at all cuz most of it to me seems so fake and not real at all i cant relate to it.

Have you read stuff like what pennywise mentioned - Charles Bukowski and The Beats (Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, etc)? A lot of people who 'hate' most poetry get into those guys.

And yeah, you would probably get into slam poetry, or spoken word in general. There's definitely something for everyone out there.

The thing about reading most poetry though is that it requires a long (as opposed to short) attention span. Even though many poems are short, they're often dense with meaning, and need to be read slowly and repeatedly in order to be fully appreciated. I think that puts a lot of people off, because the style of reading that's required is something that only comes with practice. Generally speaking, it's not accessible like other types of reading, although maybe it can be compared with reading more dense forms of fiction or non-fiction. And I think the way most kids are taught to read poetry in school puts them off - for many it's not an enjoyable experience.

For me, the boundaries between poetry, fiction and non-fiction can get pretty blurred - they're just labels, after all. Some poems are like songs, some poems are like short stories, some poems are like speeches, and some are like language experiments. Some are like drug experiences, some are like stand up comedy, and some are the world's best-kept secrets.

 

[Tronica]

Poetry is something I think many people need a good introduction to by someone in the know!

Before Wordy entered my life, I wrote the odd poem, more as a cathartic experience than as a piece to be appreciated by others. Now he's read me so many amazing and different poetry, stuff I didn't even realise was poetry! And it's true, you need to learn how to read poetry to get anything out of it. If you just read it like anything else (for me that means a skim read) you miss the whole experience.

It's great to read a poem (or watch a film, or listen to music) that expresses what you relate to - however, it's also a way of finding out about other lifestyles, other cultures, others ways of being that you might not yet understand. If you always read/listen/watch stuff that you feel part of, you can miss this important way of learning about the rest of the world... to feel your/our place amongst it

 

[up all night]

I quite often read poetry - pretty much every day - but I don't read poetry every day. I don't tend to really sit down and appreciate what I'm reading unless there is nothing around to distract me (whether that be on a train, late at night etc.)

Lately I've been making a real effort to chase up on recommendations from people whose taste I respect as well as memorising poems or passages that I'm particularly struck by.

There really is something out there for everyone but, as Tronica said, finding it is sometimes a matter of having someone who knows what they're talking about!

 

[Raz]

Something that just occurred to me...

I wonder how many people do read poetry without realising it? I'm talking about song lyrics....I used to have notebooks full of my favourite songs, and just take them out and read them when I wanted to immerse myself in a mood...nowadays I look stuff up on lyrics sites and will often chuck an album on and read the lyrics from the cd cover with the music in the background...some artists are better for this than others - Bjork isn't much good for example; while I love her stuff, her lyrics on their own are very simple and not much without the accompanying music imo - Nick Cave on the other hand I could read until the cows come home and always get something out of it..