the Gentle Madness

Poetry is Art, yet unlike other art forms its fortunes wax and wane, though there’s talk of increasing sales, and social media is awash with ‘Candy Quotes’, and political slam and some I enjoy, it seems the public only turn to Poetry books when there’s a crisis? The last surge of interest was during the Covid lock-down. There are many reasons why, my view is that it’s still seen as intellectual, a class thing, for posh folk, nerds, maybe a bit effete! even though the Mersey Sound, showed that’s not the case. All the previous are trawled from the past, I admit, though they may have a bearing at least. , I’ve realised I’m waffling over this so here it is, nige’s soap box moment………. I think it’s because it takes effort! I think people are quick to say ‘I couldn’t write poetry which is a shame. Poetry conveys thought and emotion that everyday speech struggles with! I often find beauty in the way some words are used, ‘placement’, the sound that’s brought to the mind. People often say ‘but I don’t understand it, this one annoys me because it’s a fair criticism but one from our education system, the way its dissected. Let me state now in the first instance only the Poet who wrote the poem can say if it’s good or not, the rest of the world is free to either like it or not. Secondly, it’s not important to know what the Poet meant! How the hell can we know for sure, unless a Poet has sat down, and given a sentence by sentence explanation of his work, and even then we most likely know nothing of his ‘Self’. So why bother? Because, there will be some lines obvious, and some that say a ‘certain something’. that strikes a chord with you, and if you’re open, it will trigger thoughts and emotions that will take you away. It is for this reason I now put the title at the bottom of the poem, in complete opposition to some established Poets who choose the title wisely as a clue.