Poetry Rising

Photo by V.H. Hammer via Flickr

So by now you probably fully understand that it’s National Poetry Month. While you may have heard a lot about it at school, the library, and on the internet among other places (possibly ad nauseam), it’s cooler than you’d think. Why? Poetry can be a powerful form of expression. Poems can be short or epic in length, rhyme or be contained by a number of syllables, and the sky’s the limit as far as subjects go. That’s a lot of different directions you can take with just words!

Back to expression. Poetry is often used to convey feelings, whatever those may be. The words you form may be in anger or frustration, love, whimsy, pain…you name it. Poetry definitely affects those who read and listen to them and can even change lives.

I’ll give you an example. At the recent Women in the World Summit, two girls were connected in a powerful way through poetry. Senna and Marquesha didn’t know one another before they met, but they were inspired by each other’s stories and each girl’s ability to rise above the death, poverty, and homelessness they had experienced in order to flourish as individuals.

Do these girls inspire you to express yourself through poetry? I hope so! Words can be powerful and fun and cool! Think about how you can affect someone through the verses you write. Maybe it’s something that makes people laugh, a love poem to your hunny, or an impressive bunch of onomatopoeias. Just try it, and you’ll see.

Word. To your mother. I mean, write her a nice poem or something already, would you?!

P.S. Senna, the chick who spoke her poem in another language, is the star of a really cool upcoming documentary called Girl Rising. The film focuses on “ordinary girls who confront tremendous challenges and overcome nearly impossible odds to pursue their dreams.” It’s maybe cooler than poetry. Maybe. Check it out here and watch the trailer below.