What is Poetry?

Poetry is nothing more than words spread across a page. Poetry is the use of language in means of rhetoric and syntax to present an idea in a new creative or abstract manner. The literary style that is poetry is less about what is being said and more about how it is said, in other words a poem is a performance; because of this the interpretation of each poem becomes dependent on each member of the audience. 

A performance piece is hollow until the, in this instance, reader gives it breath. Each person to encounter a poem may have a different opinion of interpretation of its meaning. This is due to each individual’s point of reference, or experiences, cultural expectations and personal acceptance or beliefs of ideas presented in the poem or a combination of all of the above.

The idea of a poem as a performance piece stems past just the poem and reader situation; it goes back to before the reader to the poet and his thoughts. Until one understands the mindset and point of approach of the poet the reader is creating a new performance and not working from the base set forth by the poet. It often helps to change the titles of roles in a situation to divulge greater comprehension. So, the poet is the director, the poem the play and each reader is an actor cast in a new performance of the same production. One actor may view it as Broadway and another as Vaudeville, while both are different, neither is wrong nor right. That is the beauty and freedom of poetry: it is the act of participation in reading.

A strong example of the poet’s role in the process is found in “Who is a Poet” by Tadeusz Rosewicz. He uses an ironic approach to discuss who he is and that he is creating or presenting to the audience. There is no fluff or filler abut who it is behind the proverbial “smoke and screen.” Rosewicz makes a point to balance what a poet is as well as is not without ever giving a true answer. He makes a point to bring difference characteristics and personality’s traits as well as life experience to the poet to allow the audience to believe that the poet is someone who is relatable to themselves, creating another way for the poet to give direction to the “actor” without spelling it out.

In a general upshot, poetry is less about the expectations and implied requirements set forth by critiques and other interpreters. Instead it brings focus to the value of self-fulfillment and personal values placed on a text by an individual reader that allows connection or reliability. In other terms, poetry is not about others or even the poem but about what each “audience member” brings to and takes from the art.