June 25, 2012

Soliloquy

I’m not a poet, but I wish I were. Over the years I’ve mainly stuck to essay-style prose, because, frankly, it’s what I’m good at. It’s also easier. And safer. Most people judge an essay or article primarily by its content. As long as you have something worthwhile to say, you won’t necessarily fall flat on your face just because you’re not Wordsworth. Not that an essay shouldn’t be artful or beautiful, because I believe it should. It’s just that most people don’t judge that sort of writing as harshly.

Poetry is different. By definition, it draws attention to the words themselves — which words the poet uses, how they sound, how they play off one another. A poem has not only content, but form. It has to both mean and be. In short, you can say something great, but if your writing sucks, everyone knows. And you get laughed at. I don’t like being laughed at, so I have stayed away from poetry.