In honor of World Poetry Day, I have decided to share a few poems with those who are interested.

One of the first poems that sparked my interest is one by Amy Lowell. In high school, we had to read a poem aloud to our class. However, instead of just reciting the poem, our teacher made us read how it was meant to be read — with feeling. It was almost as though we were acting out the poem, or the emotions behind the poem. I worked on this one for over a week and, though I am terrified of public speaking, I remember nailing it. From then on, I realized how impactful poetry can be.

Fireworks
By Amy Lowell

You hate me and I hate you
And we are so polite, we two!

But whenever I see you, I burst apart
And scatter the sky with my blazing heart.
It spits and sparkles in the stars and balls,
Buds into roses – and flares, and falls.

Scarlet buttons, and pale green disks,
Silver spirals and asterisks,
Shoot and tremble in a mist
Peppered with mauve and amethyst.

I shine in the windows and light up the trees,
And all because I hate you, if you please.

And when you meet me, you rend asunder
And go up in a flaming wonder
Of saffron cubes, and crimson moons,
And wheels all amaranths and maroons.

Golden lozenges and spades
Arrows of malachites and jades,
Patens of copper, azure sheaves.
As you mount, you flash in the glossy leaves.

Such fireworks as we make, we two!
Because you hate me and I hate you.

One poem that I repeat often is by E.E. Cummings. You’ll notice that he takes liberties with his capitalization, spacing, and punctuation. After I lost Fritz, I found a lot of solace in repeating this during times that were extra difficult or stressful — it is a practice I still stick with today.

This one is for you, Bug.

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

And just one more to add into the mix for your reading pleasure:

The keys flow beneath her fingers — like water over river rocks
They say she has piano hands
And that she plays like an angel

She doesn’t think of this
As she creates the music of her life

She doesn’t feel the pride they say she has

She plays for her pearly tears
Which refuse to fall
She plays for her cracked heart
Which refuses to break
She plays for the man
Who left her broken and crying

She is the lost soul
Weeping through eighth notes
She is the little girl
Afraid of being alone in the dark

She plays for her hopelessness

As a literature major, I might be a bit partial in my feelings toward poetry but I do believe it is important for many reasons. Though not a normal type of post for me, I felt like sharing a little bit of creativity today. Happy World Poetry Day!