The Dreaded "Oh."

When I tell people I'm a writer, there's always the follow up response: "What do you write?" My answer's always the same, too, "Mainly poetry." And then there's always a surprised, somewhat awkward pause followed by a look and an "Oh." That's right, sans exclamation point, just a disappointed period.

From there, the conversations can take one of several branches. The standard "I don't really know anything about poetry," or the occasional "I love poetry!" or the increasingly popular "I don't remember the last time I read a poem. Can you even make money with that?" All these conversations have shed a lot of light on how people think of and interact with poetry today.

Poetry has been made out to be a lot of things it's not.

And I'm not saying that as someone who's a poet and "enlightened" about the genre. I'm definitely someone who had some major misconceptions about it due to some truly terrible high school literary education, which, I know, I've mentioned a time or two. But for National Poetry Month, I figured it might be a good idea to address some of these weird, tightly-held beliefs about poetry.

First, and most importantly, poetry is for everyone.

I'm a firm believer in education, don't get me wrong. But I'm also someone who believes that learning is best accomplished in contact with what you're curious about, that there is more to learn than just "right" answers, and that the world is too expansive to be contained by only one interpretation of a thing. So poetry is something, like art, that can be taught technically, but not wholly. I've watched children instinctively love poetry without any instruction on what it is or how it's supposed to make them feel or what the author was trying to accomplish. They just get it and enjoy it. And don't get me started on teenagers. They have instincts about poetry that are insane to witness. Not to mention, I've seen adults who have learned to let go and just hear something become moved in ways they didn't expect.

Next up, poetry is not difficult to understand.

As I said, there's no right answer to interpretation, so how can you misunderstand a poem? Honestly, I think the problem with this is mostly the fault of poets. I think wanting to be understood is human nature, and wanting to share creation is a vulnerable and difficult part of that desire. So, when, say, someone takes what you wrote and comes away with very different emotions and meanings, it can feel like a personal attack to some. The intrinsic urge to correct and cut down can be too much to bear for some writers, which is how we have this belief that poetry has to be "gotten" to be enjoyed or pursued. It's really possible to separate the work from the author, and to have your interpretations be right and valid for you, even if the poet had different intentions.

Lastly, anything can be poetry/anyone can be a poet.

Poetry is incredibly, wonderously limitless. It exists beyond the page, beyond words that we can hear. It is sight and movement and taste as well. And if it has no solitary form, it can be created, enjoyed, and performed by anyone. I believe everyone is a poet in someway, but, even if you don't, then you can grasp the thought that–like the Disney rat who's movie title I can't spell–a poet can come from anywhere or be anyone. There are no age limits, no socioeconomic hindrances, no cultural or educational barriers. If you create or live poetry in any form, you're a poet. And I think that's so insanely special.

So, whether you'd rather read or write it, I hope you're taking full advantage of the poetry flowing around you today and this National Poetry Month. I hope you're opening yourself up to new feelings and experiences and opportunities. And, most importantly, I hope that it's brightening your world, even just the tiniest bit.

Happy reading and/or writing!