Poets on poetry

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“The poet begins where the man ends.

The man’s lot is to live his human life,

the poet’s to invent what is nonexistent.”

—–

José Ortega y Gasset

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I just published a piece on poetry and the power of good poems.

While developing that piece I came across a number of poems written by poets about poetry which didn’t really fit in what I was writing but I liked.

I write every day for my blog or for business. And, yeah, I assume I use words to capture ideas & thoughts but most typically something exists and it is my job to explain it or describe it or offer a thought about it.

Poetry, on the other hand, seems most powerful when it creates something in and of itself. And … if you buy that thought … then what poets do is underrated.

Creating something from nothing is hard.

And maybe because poetry most often resides in some ‘expression of some muchness’ I tend to believe poetry can often feel like a useless thought dropped into a seemingly endless vast mostly rational-driven ocean of words people could read.

Poems take some work to truly understand and in today’s simplicity above all world … well … that isn’t the most popular item on the shelf.

And that means not many poets are popular.

I am not sure that popularity really matters if you have chosen to write poetry … but shit … if you write anything … you would like to at least be noticed.

Not famous.

Just noticed.

And that is the plight of the poet.

As one poet suggests … “… will my writing outlive me? I am reasonably certain that it won’t.”

Actually … thanks to the internet and blogs and websites … what anyone writes will outlive them.

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Neruda … From: ‘Memorial de Isla Negra’

And it was at that time… Poetry came

to find me. Don’t know, don’t know from where,

it leapt, winter or the river.

Don’t know how or when

no, not words, not

voices, not silence,

but I was called from the street,

from the branches of the night,

suddenly, from the others,

in violent flames,

or coming back alone,

I, without a face,

it touched me.

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“The poet begins where the man ends.

The man’s lot is to live his human life,

the poet’s to invent what is nonexistent.”

―

José Ortega y Gasset

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“One writes out of one thing only — one’s own experience.

Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give.

This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.

—

James Baldwin

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I think a true poet, a good poet, is in a tough battle today.

To the everyday schmuck a truly great poem can be difficult to discern from a simplistic ‘likeable’ poem. I would imagine it would be like trying to discern a Calvin Harris talent <where people spout superlatives> and a John Mayer talent <who deserves musical superlatives>.

In addition the advent of the internet has permitted a slew of poetry amateurs to fill up the world wide web with scraps of good ideas … partial poetry and glimmers of true poetry.

Even Robert Frost would find the internet a tough gig to earn some accolades.

All that said.

Poetry is certainly not dead nor is the plight of the true poet one of neglect.

Poets and their words seem to hover in the background of everything just waiting among all the distractions in life to distract you with some ‘moreness.’ Distract you with some words to take what you are thinking and articulate it in such a way that it gains some depth & breadth beyond what your own mind was able to create.

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“There are poems

inside of you

that paper can’t

handle. “

–

 Y.Z

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All I really know about poetry is that the world needs more poets.