Post #4 in my Poetry series…

There are some myths about Poetry and here are 5 common ones:

1. Poetry has to rhyme
2. Poetry has to be about love or flowers or seductive landscapes
3. Poetry is complicated language and difficult to understand
4. Poetry can only be found in books
5. Poetry is not for you

Poetry can rhyme but there are some poems that obstinately and delightfully remains non-compliant with the laws of sound.

Poetry can be about love or the British countryside, or about the apocalypse or serial killers or pop stars or even about an old farm!

It doesn’t have to be written in old English or trigger an amygdala hijack. Neither is its success reflected by how well it manages to contort your brain into a question mark!

Poetry can be written and devoured by anyone paying attention.

Do check out the following 5 poems. These could well be among the myth-busters just as much as any of your personal favorites, which you may feel free to share in the comments.

• William Carlos Williams, “This is just to say” –

poetry doesn’t have to be about cold plums

• John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” – poetry need not be about Grecian urns
• Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress” – or even about coy mistresses
• (Mike McGee, “Puddin’ (An ode)” – it can be a love letter to pudding
• Sharon Olds, “Ode To The Tampon” or even an ode to a tampon

Poetry can be funny, political, erotic, happy, sad, profound, frivolous and just about anything.

After all Poetry is described as “writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experiencing in language and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning sound and rhythm”

(as per the Merriam Webster Dictionary!)

Do share your comments about what are the myths about Poetry that you are aware of.