Nayyirah Waheed
I love the simplicity of this thought - and how well it references the transformative nature of a poem (or a story, or a film, or an artwork...).
I really do think there are times when I have been changed by reading a poem. When a new way of seeing or saying is presented and it touches something deep within, it opens something and lets a crack of light through. There are so many bad descriptors I could use; but the bottom line is that sometimes the brevity and clarity of a poem can truly cut through and reach you in ways you weren't aware of.
As I hinted at, I think we can experience that sense of change, transformation, growth or insight in all forms of art (for some I imagine music moves them in a similar fashion; for others dance...). The ability of the arts to transform our thoughts and help us re-imagine ourselves and our world is one of its greatest strengths.
We need the arts. To uplift us, to enhance our understanding of ourselves and of others, and in order for us to thrive, not simply survive.
Fiona Foley, Dispersed, 2008.
I used to be frustrated by reading poetry and feeling there was a story or meaning that was hidden from me, or rather, inscrutable to me ... some "right" answer to what the poet intended to communicate that I didn't "get"
ReplyDeletethese days, I'm more inclined to simply find my own meaning ... the poems that resonate are the ones I remember and return to again and again ... changed
I think many of us felt lost in learning poetry - always looking for the key which would reveal itself to us. Now, like you I like the poems that mean something to me; which I get with an immediacy that I rarely felt when at school.
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