Poetry is not dead. 

People think it is, though, because, really, how often in daily life do we see poetry in written form? Many people seem put off by poetry and have little interest in it. There are many reasons for this, the most common seeming to be that it’s too complex and hard to understand.

If their school was anything like mine, in which we were forced to dissect and find a very  specific meaning behind some of the most complex literary devices ever, then I can see why one might be intimidated by it.

That approach to poetry is somewhat absurd, though; a poem is subjective and doesn’t  have to have just one meaning, because every person has different backgrounds and experiences that influence the interpretations of what may be written.

Another common issue with poetry is that people think that their poem won’t meet the expectations of the public. I’ve found the poetry community to be incredibly accepting, however, and that they welcome new poets with open arms. Even if you’re afraid of criticism, keep in mind that most others won’t give a deep, straight forward critique unless you specifically ask for it.

The truth is, poetry is thriving in its own magical way. There are many active online communities of poets that are dedicated to sharing and improving their craft. You can even post on Instgram and gain exposure for your poetry that way.

So, if you want to try writing poetry, what should you write about? Well, poetry is essentially a personal and creative way to express your emotions and thoughts.

It helps you to connect with your inner self, which allows you to learn more about who you are as a person. Poetry provides a certain level of freedom to express those inner thoughts and emotions stuck inside your brain in a way that other forms of writing cannot.

Whatever you think about, and choose to write about, you are more than likely to find people that can connect to it and have been through similar experiences as you. You can write about how you feel, or you could write about things that interest you.

Writing poetry requires the use of imagery, and  one of the most important rules in poetry is “show don’t tell.” By creating imagery in a poem, you can enhance your writing and improve your vocabulary, which can lead to learning new ways to articulate some of the most challenge thoughts and emotions that you have.

For example, when I initially crafted a line for a poem I was writing, I used the phrase “the orange, green, and blue bird flew.” The problem with this description is that it is clunky, vague, and it doesn’t seem that poetic. I decided to revise the line by substituting a word for the long list of colors. I initially came up with “multi-colored,” but it really doesn’t fix all the issues that I had identified from the original sentence. I decided to turn to Google and ended up digging through a long list of words synonymous to “multi-colored.” I then found one that I deemed more poetic and unique. I ended up with “the motley bird flew east.” I learned a new word and significantly improved my writing.

This is just one example of how writing poetry really engages your critical thinking and creative abilities. My poem ended up looking like this:

The motley bird flew east,

over the sun

and below the moon,

away from the beast

of humanity.

People write poetry for many reasons. I write poetry because I enjoy it. It helps me when I’m struggling to understand how I feel, and it’s even evolved into a coping method. I use poetry to help me get out of depression and to express how much I love my boyfriend. In fact, without poetry I would not be with my boyfriend, because he discovered my feelings for him after he read one of my poems.

I didn’t use his name directly in the poem, but context clues and my best friend mentioning “he finally read it,” gave him the hint. Today, we even play a game in which he helps me find inspiration for my poetry. Whenever I’m struggling or need inspiration, I send him a text saying something like “send me two words.” He’ll text me back two words which I’ll then use in my poem. Once he sent me the words “teacup” and “steam.” I then worked on a poem that ended up as:

You are the warmth

found in a steaming cup,

of green tea, and I am

the delicate teacup

that cradles you.

There are many other ways to get inspiration. Another source of inspiration that I’ve found  is an app called YourQuote. It is very simple to use, and they support multiple different languages. A new feature that they just added allows you to record yourself for one minute and post it. Which means if you prefer poetry in spoken word form, then you can still find a place on YourQuote. My primary source of inspiration is from user “YQBaba,” someone you automatically follow, and posts daily challenges.

YQBaba always has a challenge for you to collaborate on, such as finishing a poem that he’s started, or writing complementary prose. In addition to YourQuote, there are many word generators online, such as PoetrySoup, that provide different words to start with or that can be weaved into a poem.

Inspiration is everywhere, you just have to look.

Don’t be afraid of poetry. It’s not meant to be scary or complicated, it’s meant to be elegant and expressive. A poem is  a painting in words. There can be deeper meanings to a poem, yes, but they don’t have to be dissected like a frog in biology; let them live. Let them form their own connection between the reader and writer because that’s what they are meant to do.