Can anyone write a poem? If someone has a desire to express a feeling, idea or observation in a poetic form---why not? I am sure we all have written haiku at one time or another.
I think the poem had been confined to the academic world for far too long. Although it always existed in the popular culture in the form of song lyrics and recently in rap, poetry seems to be experiencing a current revival of main steam interest. Note the increase in poetry readings, workshops and dare I say blogs.
If the would-be poet enjoys language and words, it can be very satisfying trying to write poems. The best way to get started is the old cliche---start reading and listening to lots of poems---old ones, new ones, sonnets, ballads, rhyming, free verse, etc.And then begin writing and see what happens.
Is there such a thing as inspiration. I think so. I think some people for a myriad of reasons feel a "pull" toward writing poetry. Perhaps it comes from their unconscious and may give them a bit of an edge in this somewhat mysterious process.
Anyone can write a poem, but it seems some of us must.
Poetry slams are popular at UNM. I attended one last year and came away with the impression that a lot of anger against society was being vented. Participants were almost entirely from the young, hip-hop set.
ReplyDelete