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.
- Poets and Poems: Beth Copeland and “I Ask the Mountain to Heal My Heart” - July 10, 2025
- A.E. Stallings: the Parthenon Marbles, Poets, and Artists - July 8, 2025
- Poets and Fables: Steven Flint and “The Sun and the Boy” - July 3, 2025
Kathleen says
Ah…”the courage to pick up the colors.” Love that.
Maureen Doallas says
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. . . .”
nAncY says
i am now a missy fan.
laura says
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.
L.L. Barkat says
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.