Because poetry is about looking at everyday objects from a different angle.
Because poetry asks hard questions about our lives.
Because poetry isn't only what's on the page, it's how it's on the page.
Because poetry isn't just the words chosen, it's also the words not chosen.
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I love to read poetry.
Not all poetry of course.
Some poems make me feel stupid.
I gave myself permission to quit reading those poems and move on to the next one.
Some poems bewilder me.
I read those twice.
Sometimes I say them out loud (lemme tell ya, THAT gets people moving away from you on a crowded subway car.)
Some poems take my breath away.
I read those a lot more than twice.
Some poems make me laugh.
I memorize those if I can.
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Poetry speaks to us on a level beyond words.
Poetry is good for you; and it's not even green.
Here's the poem that prompted this blog post.
Wonder Woman Shops at the A&P
To satisfy her radiant-orange
appetite, Diana collects jars
of marmalade with crystallized
peels suspended in sugar, frozen
cylinders of citrus, two pounds
of organic carrots, a pumpkin.
Click-click, click-click, her scarlet
boots tap tiles as she grabs
packages with scents that hint:
ginger, juices, salmon, steak.
Her cart flashes with boxes
of orange pekoe, tangerines,
a sack of yams, apricots rolling
about, chunks of cheddar
and colby, peaches, peppers
the color of koi. At an aisle's end,
her bracelets clink against cool
glass as she selects sunflowers
for her table, their goldenrod
bonnets the texture of night.
--Christine Stewart-Nunez (untrussed and other poems: UNM Press)
