I am sitting here contemplating the day in the evening after the inauguration. It was a good day on many fronts. I liked the message Biden delivered in his speech and hope his vision is realized. The country could use some unity and a shared mission.
But, I do not want to write about the abyss this evening. It is exhausting simply because the harder core on both the right and left are relentless and steadfast in their views and unwilling to seek understanding and compromise.
So, what to write about?
Anything else.
I liked the poem that Amanda Gorman recited: The Hill We Climb. I loved the cadence and her use of repeated words and near homonym to enhance and pivot the direction of her message. She was probably already well known being the first person to be named the National Youth Poet Laureate. Her wonderful reading today on such a grand stage to such a large audience made here an instant big-time celebrity. How wonderful for her.
National Youth Poet Laureate? Like the National Poet Laureate is awarded from an annual competition sponsored by the Library of Congress. It began in 2015 by Urban Word NYC an organization that serves and advocates youth writers and writing in New York City.
I hope her appearance and reading of her poem inspires others to write and read more poetry.
In his book, Zen in the Art of Writing, Ray Bradbury advocate that everyone “Read poetry every day of your life. Poetry is good because it flexes muscles you don’t use often enough. Poetry expands the senses and keeps them in prime condition.” I agree with Bradbury (born August 22, 1920 in Waukegan, IL) though I do not read poetry anywhere close to the frequency he advocated.
It makes sense for the reason Bradbury noted. Poetry delivers an intense amount of meaning for the amount of time invested in reading it. It is the perfect literary art form to enjoy in this fast-paced world. The problem is poets don’t write for everyman. The acclaimed and noted poets write are academics who write for an academic audience. There is no modern-day Henry Wadsworth Longfellow or Edgar Guest who has broad appeal. There is no Tom Clancy of poetry. There is no mass market for poetry short of the greeting card poetry of Hallmark. As her poem is both good and assessable to wide audience, perhaps Amanda Gorman be the catalyst for a revived poetry movement?
As I wrote about Journals earlier this month, I wonder how many people buy journals with the express idea of filling them with poetry? I would imagine the are countless journals on desks, bookshelves, or tucked away barely, partially, or chock full of poetry of every ilk and style probably never read by anyone but the author.
In googling around in the writing of this post, I came across a website, How to Start a Poetry Blog (And Make Money). It is on a site called One Hour Professor. The fellow behind this, Ron Stefanski, is Chicago based and claims that after eight years he is making $20,000 a month.
Heck, I have been blogging for eleven years, including a poetry blog, and have yet to make dime one.
What a slacker.
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