Where have all the poets gone?

A call for Revival.

I’m a poet. My mind sings in couplets as I navigate the day.

At a young age, I eagerly dreamed up haikus. At thirteen, I documented my dissent in hyperbole.

Taking poetry classes with Doc Simpson in university, I conceived professional possibilities. I was awestruck by The Iliad and The Odyssey. I fell in love with Robert Frost and treasured the tattered edges of the volume displayed in my home, prominently.

I combined creativity with structure and training.

Then what? Where does the poet go in 2020 to live out her hopes in a world that no longer values meter, alliteration and metaphor; where music – as divine and essential as it is to our soul – has replaced the role of poetry. They are, after all, two very different things.

Why do we not lament the presence of unapologetic poets in our society? Why do we distill it down to some singular format on the fringe at a coffee shop, in a competition, or a journal that can’t get subscriptions.

No! This is my art. It cannot die. We must resurrect it in modern times.

We must inspire young poets to read publicly. We must ask them to. We must highlight, not just the musicians and painters and photographers, but those who write sonnets passionately!

Hire them to customize poetry. Buy it in a frame. Recite it in a video. Carry it to the balcony, the park, the stage, the boat, the mountain top, the induction ceremony... Include poetry in your everyday life. If we fail, it will wither away like paper maps on road trips; like pen pals and stationary.

All we have to do is shine the spotlight, now and again, on the "rhythmical creation of beauty in words." (Poe)

Poetry is here and we are waiting - the lovely poets of the 2020's. 

Photo credit to Laura Chouette on Unsplash
Pamela H. Say is a five-time nationally published author, speaker, and higher education administrator. Her latest book Embla and Eve is a Sacred Book of Poetry. You can find it in paperback and Kindle on Amazon. Learn more about Pam at www.BeASeedPlanter.com. 

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