FORT KNOX, Ky. — “There lurks in man’s heart a raging beast, within each mind a raptor’s nest. When winds breathe, creature flees the savage feast, winged captor flies to its rest …”
I’ve been writing poetry for about as long as I can remember; in truth, I can’t even remember how long.
My mother died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1996; my father died in 2005 from multiple urinary tract infections. Right after my father’s passing, my sister and I gathered in our childhood home and started the process of sorting through old cardboard boxes tucked away in our parents’ closet. That’s when I rediscovered just how long I had been writing poetry.
Within a box were several homemade cards to my mom with poems written by a much younger me. I only know they were from me because I had written my name in crayon on many of them; the words didn’t look familiar.
Judging by the poor penmanship and use of crayon, I figured that my age had to have been in the single digits, maybe closer to 5 than 9. As I read each one, I was surprised at how okay the poems were: the choice of words, the rhythm, especially knowing they came from the mind of a child. I briefly got swept up in the moment.
Sometimes poetry does that to me, especially when written by the masters. I don’t understand why it doesn’t do that for everyone.
What is it about this one form of art that makes so many people cringe, mock or sidestep it in favor of virtually every other form of art. Music draws huge crowds; paintings and drawings in any format fascinate people; theater, movies and television shows are almost always the talk of an office or classroom. But start to recite poetry, and — *cue crickets* …
Yet there are still those throughout history who have sworn by the medium’s power.
Pastors often recite poetry in sermons. Ancient times were replete with it.
Poets moved nations to noble action or to sinful inaction. They soothed the minds and captivated the hearts of kings. The Bible, for instance, devotes at least five books to poetry that Christians and Jews often turn to today for comfort and advice: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. Poems are also woven into several other books of the Bible.
English professors consider poetry a worthy study, a nobler art. Some of the greatest poets of England during the kingdom’s long golden age of literature are still celebrated by many scholars today: Chaucer, Milton, Bunyan, Woodsworth and Shakespeare to name a few.
So, why do so many give poetry the cold shoulder today? That question comes up every April during National Poetry Month. But since April is half a year away and today is National Poetry Day, I decided to explore that question now.
Poets and poetry enthusiasts who are in-the-know know that the question of poetry’s demise continues to be a hotly debated subject. Every year. For years. And years.
In April 2015, the Washington Post grabbed readers’ attention to the subject with a commentary called Poetry is going extinct, government data show: “Most of the discussion around the question involves qualitative assessments that are inherently unsolvable,” admitted the author. “Is poetry too political, or not political enough? Is it too popular, or too elitist? Too pretentious or too profane?”
Though the author actually avoided answering those questions, he did instead highlight statistical facts about poetry: for instance, fewer people were reading poetry than ever before — down to 6.7% in 2012 from 17% in 1992; it was less popular than jazz, dance and even knitting — only more popular than going to the opera; and searches for poetry continued to “fall precipitously.”
If a similar study had been done today, it would probably still reflect that same downward trend and dire forecast.
At least some of the problem has to do with perceptions. Let’s face it, poetry tends to be considered either intellectual snobbery or sophomoric drivel: a dark cloud that the art doesn’t seem to have the prowess, backing or interest to remove.
Fast-forward to 2021, in comes what I consider a noble stab at reviving the art. Or maybe just an attempt at dusting off poetry’s original intent.
In a Psychology Today article titled, “The Power of Poetry Therapy,” the authors declared, “both the reading and writing of poetry can be therapeutic, because whether we’re reading or writing poems, they help us engage our senses and our feelings. This provides a good merging of poetry and psychology.”
Sounds like some good Army training in mental and spiritual resilience to me.
I would argue that they are absolutely correct in their assessment. My first taste of self-therapy started after my second year of college. I had been struggling with a lot of emotions that I had masterfully shelved during my junior high and high school years: emotions that lurked in the backroom of my mind, affecting my studies, relationships, general wellbeing and self-esteem.
A very stressful summer trip to Poland after my sophomore year of college managed to unlock that vault, a space I didn’t even know existed until then. At first, I didn’t know what was going wrong with me; I was spiraling out of control — bad decisions, bad grades, bad outlook. All I knew was that I suddenly felt like I was drowning in endless ocean waves of sorrow.
During that summer trip, a friend had introduced me to his poetry journal and some of the poems he had written to help him capture and then release his angst. I had realized, “Hey, I can do this, too.”
So, when I turned my pen to my first journal, emotions spread like a raging fire across page after page. It was as if a huge dam had broken inside my mind and all my emotions flooded out. I began filling notebook after notebook for the next four years or so.
Then one day, just like that, the river’s flow stopped.
From that moment on for several more years, I felt a sense of peace and an ability to turn my attention to whatever future path I was on, which turned into 22 years in the Army.
The authors describe poetry therapy as “a form of expression in the same way that art therapy is. It involves the therapeutic use of narrative poems to promote a sense of healing and well-being.” They also credit the Egyptians in 400 BCE with being the first to use poetry for that very reason: to combat internal ills, which in turn can combat external ills.
In the spirit of National Poetry Day, celebrated at poets.org | Academy of American Poets, here are some suggestions for penning your own lines of rhythm and rhyme. Some of this can be found in the Psychology Today article, some from Army health officials’ advice:
• Keep a journal, and jot down any prevailing thoughts or emotions as they surface
• Make note of words that “sing” to you, especially as they pertain to your situation
• Tell stories with the ideas you have captured
• Paint a detailed picture with words that helps others see what you’re writing about
• Read your poems out loud, even if just to yourself; note how different they sound when spoken
• If you have little ones, encourage them to also write
• Write for you, not for others’ approval or praise of you
• Finally, join a site like All Poetry. There, you can read others’ works, comment on them, join free contests and groups, get helpful advice, and even publish your works. Or you can join one or more of several groups on Facebook who celebrate poetry by sharing their works and reading others’.
Psychiatric Times, in a June 15, 2021 article titled Poetry for PTSD and Preventing Suicide, talked with a psychiatrist who wrote a book about the use of poetry to combat PTSD. In that interview, author Norman Rosenthal said, “… the intrusive memories of PTSD are often treated by encouraging those who suffer to actively think about their traumatic memories in ways that decondition their painful responses.”
Poems still have the power to address society’s ills and our own life struggles in ways that other mediums can’t. They can promote laughter and joy and give us a path beyond personal barriers, allowing us to slay our demons.
Poetry goes a long way toward soothing the savage beast that resides in us all.
| Date Taken: | 10.06.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2022 10:41 |
| Story ID: | 435349 |
| Location: | KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 98 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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