4/21/2009

Give it a try -- even if you're not enamored with Shakespeare

"This Is Just To Say"

by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

We really like this poem. It's extremely simple. It's just a note on the fridge. And yet, doesn't it seem as if the author isn't really sorry that he ate the plums. He says he knows that the recipient of the note was saving the plums, but he ate them anyway. He brags about how good they were. A tense relationship unfolds behind the three short stanzas.

It is a brief, straightforward poem, but it expresses what we like about poetry.

Poetry celebrates the complexity of words, reveals hidden meanings and forces us to consider things in a more abstract manner.

We know not everyone feels this way. Recently, when talking to a high school English teacher, she explained that she could see her students' eyes glazing over when they studied Shakespeare's sonnets.

I'm sure many can relate. There must have been a time when you had to stumble through a poem written in archaic English, maybe even reading it aloud in class. Some students have to memorize poems or even write poems in iambic pentameter.

These lesson on the guts of poetry are important, but they don't make word-lovers out of us.

Trust us, though, just because you don't like Shakespeare or John Donne doesn't mean you should wash your hands of poetry.

Poets write about everything from love to war, from the sacred to the profane and from a personal perspective to a social one. They use different formats, too. Not all poetry rhymes. Plenty of poems makes good use of modern-day English and slang.

Now is the perfect time to try to ignite a passion for poetry. We are more than halfway through national poetry month. There are still two sessions left of the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission and Salina Public Library's Spring Poetry Series. Bruce Bond, a poet and classical guitarist, will read at 7:30 p.m. today, and Donna Trussell will read at 7:30 p.m. April 28, both at Mokas Bakery and Bistro, 109 N. Santa Fe.

The state's poet laureate, Denise Low, is running weekly poetry competitions. Visit her blog at http://deniselow.blogspot.com/ for more information.

Whether you're a traditionalist or you're drawn to slam poetry, we hope you give poetry another try and find something that speaks to you.

-- Amy Adams

Member of the Journal's

Editorial Board

822-1420

amattson@salina.com

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