Redefining the Poem

As I browsed the Web today, searching out the modern poetry of my contemporaries, I have come to the realization that poetry is nothing like I thought that it was. I mean, growing up, I was taught that poems are supposed to rhyme and be descriptive and sometimes witty and nice to read. As I surfed around a few online forums, I discovered just what poetry has come to be.

Anything you want it to be. About anything you want it to be. Really.

I sat down and read lots and lots of poems. Poems about bad dates and drugs and old books and sadness and happiness and drinking your life away. Well, I guess the content hasn't changed that much, now that I think about it.

But the form?  I found a few poems that were like, a line.  And the comments went wild!  I guess I just need a little more practice with the modern take on poetry. 

However, I did think it was pretty cool that I COULD do this.  And don’t get me wrong, I found a few gems that were truly inspiring!  As I browsed the comments, I found that the authors had linked the poems to their blogs and Youtube profiles as well.   That is a GREAT idea!  How nice to be able to connect all your work so easily and attract followers! 

This got me thinking.  What if all the present-day technology had been around when the classic poets were writing back in the old times?  It would be sweet!  I bet you’d hear people all over saying, “Oh my gosh, did you SEE what Shakespeare threw down on the forum last night?!  ‘To be or not to be…’ He’s soooo hipster!”  Wouldn’t that be great?

{Look, he has an earring.  Hipster when it was still frowned upon.}

Anyway, this experience has definitely been enlightening.  I’ve discovered new ways to find other poets, new ways to have my own work read, and new…ideas on what poetry is in and of itself.  

Getting Ideas from Goodreads

I hate to admit, but my digital and actual bookshelves have been disappointingly dusty as of late.  For about two months after returning home from my church mission, I felt like material that wasn't written by the hand of God was off-limits and sinful.  Thankfully, my dear aunt recommended a few really prime reads to me after the initial returned-missionary weirdness wore off.  So by way of My Antonia, I was reacquainted with the world of literature, and was soon hungry for more.

Isn't it nice then, that I signed up for this class?  I had an enlightening experience setting up my account on Goodreads this morning.  It was really cool!  I thought the “friends” feature, which allowed me to import my friends from Facebook and see what they are reading, was super neat.  It surprised me that a few of them even read, to be honest.  But I like this because if I ever don’t want to play the library gamble and hope that a random book is a winner, I have somewhere to search with recommendations from people I trust.  It reflects badly on them if the book they liked is actually really lame, but my friends usually have good taste, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I also like how the “bookshelves” bit keeps everything well-organized.  Gone is the Dewey-Decimal system—now everything is categorized neatly on the screen in a way that is MUCH easier to understand.  It’s like, “Hey, I just really want a twisted love story today.  I think I’ll go to my ‘Twisted Love Stories’ shelf!  Look, Vampire Diaries! Perfect.” 

I’m excited to start finding more friends and getting their opinions on books, as well as exploring the site to form my own.  The more people read, the more their minds are opened and their perspectives broadened.  Many Goodreads = even more great ideas.