Have I ever mentioned how much I love poetry?
I didn’t used to love poetry, not when it was set in front of me in school with a charge to dissect the words and diagnose the exact meaning.
If I’m ever in charge of the universe, I will forbid English teachers from having students analyze poems. In fact, I’ll take poems right out of English class and stick them, instead, in the vending machines next to all of the other indulgent treats where they belong.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Don’t try to figure it out; there’s nothing to figure out. Just enjoy the words.
The Patience of Ordinary Things
by Pat Schneider
It is a kind of love, is it not?
How the cup holds the tea,
How the chair stands sturdy and foursquare,
How the floor receives the bottoms of shoes
Or toes. How soles of feet know
Where they’re supposed to be.
I’ve been thinking about the patience
Of ordinary things, how clothes
Wait respectfully in closets
And soap dries quietly in the dish,
And towels drink the wet
From the skin of the back.
And the lovely repetition of stairs.
And what is more generous than a window?
Oh. My. Goodness.
That’s way better than a Snickers bar, fo sho. Dude, can you loan me seventy-five cents? I’m totally craving another poem.
That is one great poem. I love it!!! Thanks so much.
Wow…that IS good…perhaps a regular-spot-of-poetry-on-your-blog good!
my fave poem – i carry your heart with me. by ee cummings.
Rychelle, I just got goose bumps, I know it’s not a SHOCK but that’s the poem we’re having read at our wedding this weekend! Somehow, I feel like I was supposed to find your acknowledgement of it today. Thanks Tiffany for the post that inspired it.
i think you should totally get a lower back tatt with the whole poem. just really teensy tinsy letters. that’s how much you love that poem.
Thank you for putting into words my feelings on poetry. English class ruined both my appreciation of poetry, and any belief that I could actually ever write good poetry.
By the way, I loved that poem! Thanks for giving me permission to enjoy it, rather than to analyze it.
Loved the poem! I am continually amazed by the power of words – You were the one who opened my eyes to this. I’m number 2 on the list now for that book you told me to get from the library. Can’t wait to read it!
I’m with mindi…I think that is a stellar idea!
Gorgeous. Did you get that off of the Writer’s Almanac? I saw it there the other day and actually thought of you. So good.
I completetly agree with you on disecting poems in classes. I just had to do that in my BYU English class and hated it. Who cares about iambic pentameter? That’s not what poetry is about.
I agree, the teachers who claim to love poetry sometimes scare students away from it. That is a great poem, thanks for sharing. It’s kind of pathetic that pretty much the only poetry I ever hear tends to be spiritual twinkies read over the pulpet in a church talk. They sound like this
Blah Blah Blah bla bla bla Rhyme.
Blah Blah Blah bla bla bla Rhyme.
Blah Blah Blah bla bla bla Rhyme.
Blah Blah Blah bla bla bla Rhyme.
Blah Blah Blah bla bla bla Rhyme.
Blah Blah Blah bla bla bla almost Rhyme.
I heart poetry. I should read more. Soemtimes poetry helps me laugh at my wimpy arms when I quote it like this: “….the muscles of her scrawny arms are strong like rubber bands.” That’s Longfellow with a twist of Kate.
p.s. I miss you.
I grew up with poetry. My Mom writes it. She taught me that poetry always carries truths that are not right there in front of you. You have to feel the beauty in the words to really understand it.
Anyway thanks for reminding us that we need to read it more. I think I will go find the poem my Mom wrote the day I was born. I love it and it has been a long time since I read it.
Thanks again!
How wonderful!
And I totally agree. As a former English student and a former English teacher, I have seen both styles of teaching poetry. Hacking it up into rough little chuncks isn’t my favorite. Putting it on my tongue and savoring it like buttery warm chocolate…that’s more my speed.