Poetry

Poetry is a form of literature that is plagued with a bad image. Many people know poetry to be very abstract, and because of this, many people characterize the entire genre as unimportant. The poor image is reflected in our current curriculum. As a 12th grader, preparing to graduate, I am just now getting my first glimpse of poetry. Throughout my high school English classes or any classes for that matter, I have not spent more than two weeks learning or appreciating poetry. I feel as though my teachers have cheated me of the pleasure of reading poetry. I thoroughly enjoyed my classes' poetry circles. I like that poems are quick to read yet, there is still so much take away from them. This is especially good for my generation's short attention span, making poems much more pleasurable to read than a novel. Good poets can create a vivid character in 5 words or less, and in modernist poems, 5 words can evoke emotions about an image that may leave the reader puzzled as to why they are feeling that way. I am happy that I have found another form of literature that I enjoy to read, even if the joy is a bit overdue.