Poetry and Why We Need It

There are innumerable ways to define poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge famously said that poetry is "the best words in the best order." Poetry is often identified visually by the blank space left on the page when the poem is printed in lines, but not necessarily. Poetry can have rhythm and rhyme, or not. It can be properly punctuated, or not. It can be fun or serious and is to be enjoyed in a different manner than other writing.

From an article about why we need poetry in schools…

Poetry helps us know each other and build community. When read aloud, poetry is rhythm and music and sounds and beats. Young students feel the rhythms, get curious about what the sounds mean, and perhaps want to create their own. It's the most kinesthetic of all literature. It's physical and full-bodied and activates your heart and soul. Poetry opens venues for speaking and listening, also important areas of language learning. Poetry builds resilience in kids and adults; it fosters social and emotional learning. A well-crafted phrase or two in a poem can help us see an experience in an entirely new way. Find the poems that wake you up, find the poems that make you feel joy or sadness or delight. Find those poems that communicate with the deepest parts of your being and welcome them in.

(Sources: edutopia.org, webexhibits.org, poetrysoup.com)

Sea-Wash (by Carl Sandburg)

 THE SEA-WASH never ends.
 The sea-wash repeats, repeats.
Only old songs? Is that all the sea knows? 

  Only the old strong songs? 

  Is that all?

The sea-wash repeats, repeats.

A Limerick (Anonymous)

There once was a young lady named bright
Whose speed was much faster than light
She set out one day
In a relative way
And returned on the previous night.