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Why Poetry Matters 8

By Glynn Young 5 Comments

Here’s contribution No. 8 on “Why Poetry Matters” that was submitted for the poetry and wine giveaway last month. The randomly chosen commenter received a copy of L.L. Barkat’s InsideOut: Poems, and the winner of the 100-word statements on what poetry matters received a copy of the poems and a bottle of Sineann wine.

This is from Missy Kemp at Daily Portion, and this one was the winner of the 100-word statement:

Why Poetry Matters

You read it aloud in the darkened room, your lamp the center of one pool of light. From another bulb’s halo , the poet sent the words out to you. Held in the vowels and caught on the consonants, somehow, is your own story written by a stranger. Truth unknown before now falls on you from the uneven ends of the lines. This moment of recognition is as ancient as the cave paintings we shine our flashlights on, deciphering our story from the shapes and tracings of another’s, the one with the courage to pick up the colors.

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Glynn Young
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Glynn Young
Editor and Twitter-Party-Cool-Poem-Weaver at Tweetspeak Poetry
Glynn Young lives in St. Louis where he retired as the team leader for Online Strategy & Communications for a Fortune 500 company. Glynn writes poetry, short stories and fiction, and he loves to bike. He is the author of Poetry at Work and the Dancing Priest Series. Find Glynn at Faith, Fiction, Friends.
Glynn Young
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Latest posts by Glynn Young (see all)
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Comments

  1. Kathleen says

    February 25, 2010 at 1:15 am

    Ah…”the courage to pick up the colors.” Love that.

    Reply
  2. Maureen Doallas says

    February 25, 2010 at 1:18 pm

    Wonderfully written statement! The writer “gets” poetry’s meaning.

    One of the most memorable descriptions of poetry comes from the much-beloved and best-selling poet Mary Oliver. She calls poems “little alleluias” that “just sit there on the page, and breathe. . . .”

    Reply
  3. nAncY says

    February 25, 2010 at 9:03 pm

    i am now a missy fan.

    Reply
  4. laura says

    February 26, 2010 at 12:02 am

    this is what i love about poetry: “somehow, is your own story written by a stranger”

    killing me softly with his song, killing me softly with his song…telling my whole life, with his words…

    ok. i’m tired.

    love this one, glynn.

    Reply
  5. L.L. Barkat says

    February 27, 2010 at 4:46 pm

    as Laura said, yes, the idea of your own story written by a stranger. It reminds me that “stranger” is not so alien as I might first think.

    Reply

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