It’s sometimes just a handful of words, but they deeply resonate with you. They surprise you in how perfectly they capture those small, in-between moments of life and how accurately they describe those feelings you didn’t know you had. How does poetry do that, profoundly move us with seemingly so little? Expressing so much, with so much precision, stirring us up and providing comfort, even in our darkest moments.
Technically, one does not even need access to pen and paper to create a poem. One of the main requirements is being playful with language, both as a poet and as a reader and listener. Poetry is an art form that plays with the power of words and it has a lot to offer us as a society. We want to contribute to a culture where it is appreciated in all its facets: be it in books, in performances, in readings, in chapbooks, pamphlets, broadsides, zines, or in any other format.
That’s what we mean by POETRY:
Certainly not only poems that rhyme. There are so many different poetry traditions, genres and poetic forms – poetry is a fascinating treasure trove. The YW theme of POETRY also includes the art of oral storytelling, by the way.
Some poems rhyme, some don’t. Some have a specific rhythm, some don’t. Some have a specific number of lines, some don’t. Some poetry is written to be published and read in books, some of it is primarily created to be performed. In short, poetry has something for everyone and how you take it in is completely up to you. Read the classics or the contemporaries, hear poems read out loud, memorize them, be inspired to write and perform your own. Although it can be fun to analyze poems, you don’t need to.
Just like you don’t need to understand every single one of the lyrics of a song to enjoy listening to music, you can (dis)like poems just for the feelings they evoke in you. There isn’t a “one true meaning” to decipher first, before being allowed to engage with it. Just find what kind of poetry you like to read (or hear or write) and off you go. Yes, in our opinion, poetry is allowed to be this easy.
We are building an arts & letters directory
We want to help you find poems that speak to your current mood or moment. We want you to discover the work of new poets, spoken word artists and storytellers. We want to showcase all the ways poetry can be enjoyed, either by yourself alone at home, or out and about, with others. We want to give you ideas for events to attend where stories are told, spoken word is performed and poetry is created, read and shared. And we want to help you find poetry in print and book format, for example in poetry collections, anthologies or chapbooks, so that your life can be made richer by poetry in whichever form you choose to enjoy it.
While our directory is only just getting started, this is what we have planned for the theme of POETRY:
How to add your organization to the Young W directory
Are you a poet, spoken word artist, storyteller, publisher of poetry chapbooks or any other organization which fits into one of the categories above? Check out the Get Involved page for details about how to get your organization added to the directory.
We sell books about poetry and poetry collections, broadsides and other poetic print creations.
