On Art and Poetry

A lot of people will find themselves torn over poetry. Like zombies, they gang up on the helpless printed couplet, mouths hanging open, waiting for the victimized words to attempt escape. Then they take the words and begin to dissect them like worms. They get so caught up in trying to find the guts, ignoring the fact that they are really slicing open an innocent, gummy worm. And not the sugar-covered kind either. No, they mutilate the body, and take what’s left. Assembling a new worm in the fashion of Frankenstein’s monster, they cheer, proud of what they have manipulated into being.

This past weekend, I visited a local art museum. There was an exhibit of Alejandro Diaz’s art (I saw these sculptures and signs, http://www.dorfmanprojects.com/projects/diaz_southampton/index.html), and even Monet and Degas. I like looking at old art, new art, weird art, even near art. I like seeing creativity, beauty, and technique. Sometimes, it can be fun to recognize elements in a piece that give to a possibly deeper meaning. How does this connect to the gummy-worm dissecting, Frankenstein monster assembling zombies? Simple: humans like to take a pretty picture and make it something it is not. That and the zombie poetry genre I just found through Google.

Fisherman's Cottage at Varengeville, Claude Monet. Not about his new pet eel. I don't think.

A poem is essentially a painted picture, and like a painting, may or may not contain a story line. Going through high school, you get your fair share of poetry. Most kids are so sick of Shakespeare and Robert Frost by the end of their English classes that they take the poetry and toss it out the window. Why do they do this? Instead of enjoying poetry in school, they were made to find symbolism. Really, symbolism is not that bad. It usually aids in the whole 'make a picture with words' thing. But if you have to annotate a twelve line poem that is about a farm and hardship, then turn it into a five page essay about life, you’ve essentially murdered that poem. If symbolism is present, it should not be painful to notice it.

Poets just want to transport the reader elsewhere. Artists want to be creative and tap into people’s senses. All they want is for their audience to take a mental vacation from having to analyze everything. Or perhaps they are just expressing something we will never understand, but we find beauty in their work anyway. Until I took a literary studies class this past semester, I did not quite understand this. Read and enjoy a poem? You can do that? Poetry instantly became approachable. So next time you sit down to write, or head to an art museum, or do some light reading, enjoy it.