I have always been a reader of words, and I devoured everything that could be read around me. Books, comics, cereal boxes, the ingredients on a bottle of lotion...eventually I had to turn to poetry. The question was whether I would enjoy it.
I remember trying to read Shel Silverstein as a kid and not really "getting" it. Where was the story that I was looking for? However, I really enjoyed reading poems that were theoretically above the reading level of a 4th grader because they came in interesting-looking volumes and I loved the way the words rolled around in my mouth. I wasn't really sure what they meant, because often I was reading poets like Robert Burns or Shakespeare, whose language can be rather obscure.
In high school, I took a creative writing class. That was when I became a real poetry enthusiast, because I began writing poetry myself. I won't pretend my poetry was wonderful, but it was a lifeline in a very troubling period of my life (adolescence). In class we read a variety of different poets, and this was complemented in English class. I continued seeking out new and interesting poetry to explore until partway through college, when I abandoned it for more scholarly pursuits/writing. However, I have picked it back up again - both the reading and the writing.
I don't read as much classical poetry as I used to do. I tend to search out postmodern poets (there's a great poem about "fifi, the dangerous fag dog" that is one of my favorites right now) and folks on dreamwidth who are doing more experimental things. As I've begun to explore mindfulness, I've also grown to appreciate Haiku/Tanka more as forms.
So for me, I suppose, enjoying poetry is tied both to the enjoyment of the written word (and the spoken word) as well as the way a poem can express emotion so succinctly and heartwrenchingly.
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I remember trying to read Shel Silverstein as a kid and not really "getting" it. Where was the story that I was looking for? However, I really enjoyed reading poems that were theoretically above the reading level of a 4th grader because they came in interesting-looking volumes and I loved the way the words rolled around in my mouth. I wasn't really sure what they meant, because often I was reading poets like Robert Burns or Shakespeare, whose language can be rather obscure.
In high school, I took a creative writing class. That was when I became a real poetry enthusiast, because I began writing poetry myself. I won't pretend my poetry was wonderful, but it was a lifeline in a very troubling period of my life (adolescence). In class we read a variety of different poets, and this was complemented in English class. I continued seeking out new and interesting poetry to explore until partway through college, when I abandoned it for more scholarly pursuits/writing. However, I have picked it back up again - both the reading and the writing.
I don't read as much classical poetry as I used to do. I tend to search out postmodern poets (there's a great poem about "fifi, the dangerous fag dog" that is one of my favorites right now) and folks on dreamwidth who are doing more experimental things. As I've begun to explore mindfulness, I've also grown to appreciate Haiku/Tanka more as forms.
So for me, I suppose, enjoying poetry is tied both to the enjoyment of the written word (and the spoken word) as well as the way a poem can express emotion so succinctly and heartwrenchingly.