National Poetry Month

 

 

Recently my book club, made up of writers, met to discuss The Brothers Karamazov. Half finished the book, the other half did not. I must confess I was one of the ones who did not, but we had valid excuses. Length and time and busyness were our top three. I, the only poet among the fiction and non-fiction writers, then suggested a book of poems for the next meeting. After the laughter died down, we quickly went on to look for a short book.

 

I recall this as we enter April, National Poetry Month. This month, in Canada, poets are criss-crossing the country – visiting schools, bars, and cafés – to read, declaim, rap, and perform their poems. It is the one month of the year when the art and its creators are showcased. PQ would be amiss if it did not celebrate and contemplate National Poetry month.

 

And why not? It is a very good idea. It’s a good idea because any time a society gives itself a week or a month for poetry to be everywhere, something is definitely right. Poetry (art) has been around for as long as humans have been conscious. Even the earliest artifacts— pots, tools and cave walls – were decorated. And although these earliest forms of poetry may have been forms of prayer, they do show the imaginative process at work. Not only as symbols and stories, but as a belief that there was/is more to existence and survival than the utilitarian objects and weapons. If this is true, and if we believe Darwin’s theory – that everything we are and do is related to surviving – then everything is necessary. And if this is true, then the conclusion we must come to is that art/poetry is essential for our survival.

 

Poetry, before it became poetry, was part of what we now call prayer, war chant, birth, mating, and death. It was part of history, medicine and magic. It was part of news and entertainment. It was an essential part of community. Therefore, it was essential for existence and survival.

 

Nowadays it’s an “art” apart from our daily lives and pretty well absent from the consciousness and relevance of the community. It is the domain of outsiders, a solitary activity, and worse, a loss leader for publishers.

 

And yet people continue to write. One has to wonder why. Teachers from elementary school right through to university encourage the writing and the reading of poetry. One has to wonder why. Grant organizations offer grants and honoraria to aspiring, mid-level and established poets. One has to wonder why.

 

The answer is that in spite of poetry being largely ignored, people still feel that its creation is a part of our creation. Essential, it is the highest form; it is our greatest creation-language. It is in the form of the language that we most powerfully express our hopes, desires, sadness, failures and love. And ultimately, it is what makes us human.