Poetry and Popular Culture

Is poetry too complicated for the average reader? Is it too cryptic, scholarly? If you ask a large group of average people what they like or don't like about poetry, you'll get a few different answers, but there is an overwhelmingly common category of responses.

One of the main reasons that people say they aren't addicted to contemporary poetry is that they feel it is too cryptic. The language, they say, isn't tangible. Despite the fact that there are a great many contemporary poets out there writing and performing poetry that appeals to the non-cryptic taste of many would-be enthusiasts, this poetry isn't highly visible in the popular media.

The second reason that some people say they aren't interested in poetry is that their idea of poetry is based on the old classical stuff they were forced to read in high school. Who can relate to 'thee' and 'thou?' People feel that poetry is an abstract language that has very little relevancy to the modern world.

So, what is out there, and why don't people bother with it? The answer is that, for a very long time, poetry has been seen as a literary playground directed toward other players. Publishers recognize that poetry doesn't sell very well, and so, they are apprehensive about publishing a great many books of poetry. The problem, though, is that while there may or may not be a market for poetry, no one really knows for sure. In short, no one is making an effort to shove it into mainstream media.

Perhaps if people knew the kinds of poems being talked about in the literary circle by poets such as Ted Kooser, Louise Gluck, or many of the other poets (yes, there are poets who are still living, thank you), then maybe the people would be a little more apt to purchase a book or two of poetry.

What Can You Do to Help Popularize Poetry?

You can offer to subscribe to contemporary poetry journals for a local high school. Remember, one of the reasons people don't drool over poetry is that they haven't been exposed to what's available.

You can start an open mic poetry reading at your local bookstore or library.

Volunteer at a local school to help students write and publish their own literary journal.

Donate poetry books by contemporary poets to your library or school.

BUY SOME POETRY!! If you love to write poetry, one of the best ways to develop your skills (and even find markets for your poetry), is to buy and read poetry by other conemporary poets. When you buy a book of poetry, you are contributing to the market. The more people go out and buy books of poetry, the more popular the market will become.

Start a local writer's group, and make a point to discuss some of the works by conemporary poets.

Start a literary journal, and emphasize works by poets that would appeal to a general audience, rather than only to other poets.

Devrie Paradowski is a freelance writer and poet. She is serious about getting poetry into popular culture. She recently published a book of poetry, "A Ray Squeezed Through," in an effort to promote her new literary journal, "LE Quarterly." Her book can be found on Amazon.com, and at http://www.Lulu.com/devrie . Visit the literary journal at http://www.literaryescape.com/journal

---

It Was Not Me

It was not me as I am now. It was not me as I was then. It was then when God was truly in me. When God... Read More

Two Poems: Boyhood, and Old Age [with a note on style]

BoyhoodOh me! Thy glorious days have flown! I mealy noticed, now they're gone, How quickly passed the flowers! Time does not stop youth's bells; It was like... Read More

Changes

I am not the one I was before yesterday.I cannot go back.I am not the one I will be tomorrow.I can not see that far ahead.I am... Read More

Two Poems Written During Recovery

Since my wife and I are moving, or preparing to move, we've been going through our things as most people must, to prepare for the new location,... Read More

Rules for Writing Poetry

You've been writing poetry since that first assignment in your high school writing class. You know the rules about writing poetry, right? Are there rules? Well, if... Read More

Ive Learned

You cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.No matter how much I... Read More

Four Poems: Grendels Nature...the Racetrack...Counting days...[Now in English and Spanish]

English Version1) Grendel's DivorceYou must know that I do not hateAnd that I hate you, Because everything dead has twoSides; A sound is one arm of the... Read More

The Crusader: A Search for the Virtue Inside (an excerpt of an Epic Poem)

On through the darkness she searches the bones Seeking the hand of her love; Deep in the stillness, the maid searches on, Petitioning help from above. Onward... Read More

Welcome to the Town of Feeling

Happy, Sad, Mad and Glad, Moved in down the streetCautious watched them, from her window, Wondering, which one should I meet?Confused came in with overwhelmed and said,... Read More

Burning Autumn Leaves [a poem in Spanish and English]

Burning Autumn Leaves [1950s in St. Paul, Minnesota]My long steel pointed rake punctured And twisted through tons of autumn leaves (back in the '50s); And there's... Read More

Wondering

How I wonder what he's doing as I sit alone at night. How I wonder who he's seeing How I wonder if I'm right. How I wonder... Read More

For My Mother

I cannot bear to think of when you will be gone.I do not understand how I will get along.Your love has been my resting place, the place... Read More

Antidotes for an Alibi

Amy King's first full-length collection, Antidotes for an Alibi, insists that we examine the deceptive clarity of our actions and the goals that motivate us. How does... Read More

Tsunami -a Poem Dedicated To Help Aid and Awareness and Encourage Future Harmony. Make Peace Not War

Real Power.One Tsunami, and all our armies, Seem belittled by their wars, What Animals fled, and tribesmen read, Finally Arrives with crushing roar, Wholesale slaughter, purely by... Read More

Listen as I Share: WE

You speak simple, completley understandable justifications I respect them, respect you, honor what you tell me and even though I know where you're coming from, I just... Read More

Three Poems and Paradise Lost [One for Hell, One for Heaven one for an Inca King]

The Torrents of HellHell's furnace- Likened to a chimney Vomits her torrents Of flames- Into the air Through earths crust And the earth's trembles-!Agitated, she projects A... Read More

The Plane from Iquitos [1959-Part One]

Iquitos & the Amazon Part OneIt was December 2, l959, I was sitting on a small prop-plane leaving Iquitos, Peru for a trip down the Amazon toward... Read More

The Goat and the Rope [a Poem: in Spanish and English]

The Goat and the Ropewhere there were devils I saw none. nothing. the air is hot. milky substance. I am and we are looking at this deep.... Read More

Catherine Daly reviews Antidotes for an Alibi

Amy King Antidotes for an Alibi BlazeVox Books ISBN 0-9759227-5-0 2005These poems read to me like poetry versions of flash fiction. Now, I like flash fiction very... Read More

Two Poems: Black Poncho, and Spirits of de Copan [in English and Spanish]

English Version12) Black Poncho(of Saint Cosme Hill, by Lima, Peru)Lost in the grottos of Peru- By the hills of Huancayo Black Poncho was given A treasure... Read More

Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide

The light of all eternity shines with me now / My feelings light up my life / How I find my way is determined by them /... Read More

Five Mixed Poems, with Notes [now is Spanish and English]

1.Night in Jamaica [Peruvianism: 1810]It was a rainy night they say When don Simon Bolivar Slept in the arms of beautiful -Luisa Crober (of Jamaica); thus... Read More

A Case of The Fears

Chicken Soup is good for a coldSleep is good for the FluWhen I get a case of the FearsWhat is a person to do?It is not bacteriaAlthough... Read More

The Treasure of Catalina Huanca (In English and Spanish)

Note: written after seeing the little adobe 16th century church San Sebastian, in San Jeronimo, by the mountains of Huancayo, Peru, after being taken there by the... Read More

In the Mountans of Haiti [A Poem: in English and Spanish]

In the Mountains of Haiti(In the City)-July is a hot month-sweating Poverty out on every street (In Port de Prince); mixingMemory with desire causes stirring. Not... Read More

The Lull of Twilight [Over Mantaro Valley] In English and Spanish

Twilight, was now beginning. As forthe sun, it was down-down over the Mantaro Valley of Peru. The softness of the Valley's mist, covered everything; from the Andes... Read More