Poetry

 Poetry is its own entity. While a story is a song, a poem is a statement. It is pretty much anything contained within lines (or even those contained outside of lines), its form varying in length and structure. Sometimes, it can be one part of a whole and other times it can be part of a story. It is a completely unique form of expression unlike any other and each poem ever written (even if about the same thing) is a snowflake, never the same as any other poem.

Unsurprisingly, this wild difference causes people to hate poetry. Prose, at least, has rules but poetry has none. Its meaning is often only extracted upon deep thought instead of via instant gratification. This scares many, even some word lovers. People hate what they don't understand and what doesn't meet conformity.

But I'm here to say that I absolutely adore poetry. I adore each little intricacy. The extremely structured poems dance to beautiful choreography while free form just jams to music only it hears. And both are such a pleasure to watch but, even more than that, to actually write some myself.

Poetry is expression. Poetry is raw human emotion even if it is human emotion carefully strung on iambic pentameter. And that is what makes me crave it like air. When I have so much emotion inside of me, poetry helps me release it. It says what I cannot speak myself. Sometimes, I just need to say things as they are and not beat around the bush. I need to acknowledge it. Whether I write it in a structured form to bolster the meaning or just spill it out in free form, it's all authentic.

Prose is so long, so obtuse. Sometimes, it's much too verbose. Poetry, on the other hand, is blunt and sparing. It says things as they are. It has an honesty that so many things don't have.

Poetry has been helping me out so much lately. I'm sure, that given the weight of my emotions, my poetry sucks. It probably sounds incredibly repetitive, dull and whiny. Nevertheless, it's all me. I spilled out the emotions that threatened to consume me and released them; I made the poetry my life raft, the words freeing me from my prison. Poetry has been my raw feeling; it's always raw feeling. It makes me a better human. The other poetry I read from other people is the same, I can tell.

Poetry is beautiful in this way. It might be conveyed in so many different forms but it all is an outlet of that pure, unbridled emotions. And boy is that a sight to behold!