The Hazards of Poetry

Posted by Lyssa Medana on January 05, 2024 in

Today's post was supposed to be a poem. I hadn't written poetry for ages and I had a craving for it. I had it all written out and ready to go. 

Image from Unsplash, taken by Hannah Olinger and far more elegant than I can manage

I re-read it this morning and winced. Poetry can appear amazingly easy. Writing good poetry, from my experience and watching the results of others, is hard. Writing bad poetry is regrettably easy. This was bad poetry. I couldn't live with myself if I let it get published. 

I'm not sure what makes good poetry. I have very shallow tastes and don't consider myself a judge of fine art. I would say that poetry should break your heart a little. It should, for me, make the words sizzle and burn. One of my favourite poems is called Funeral Blues by WH Auden and it perfectly contains the heartbreak of a loved one dying. The line I thought our love would last forever, I was wrong breaks my heart every time.

Then again, another of my favourites is Upper Lambourn by John Betjeman and it is absolutely not a heartbreak. There is something in the lines, Feathery ash, neglected elder/Shift the shade and make it run that gives me a wonderful sense of place as the words patter around you. 

Image from Unsplash, taken by Asim Rehman and having a wonderful feeling of sun on leaves

Poetry, in my opinion, is complicated. It's difficult to write well, laughably easy for me to write badly and it's hard to know where you are until you finish it, walk away and then come back a week later to look with clear eyes. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts and it would be wonderful if you could share your favourite poetry. This is one of my favourites, and it isn't spectacular or fun but to me feels more like a hug.

I Meant to do my Work Today

by Richard le Gallienne

I meant to do my work today

But a brown bird sang in the apple tree

And a butterfly flitted over the field

And all the leaves were calling me.

And the wind went sighing over the land

Tossing the grasses to and fro

And a rainbow held out its shining hand

So what could I do but laugh and go?

Image from Unsplash, taken by Jorge Fernandez Salas and so beautiful