Poetry is therapeutic. I’m closing out Poetry Month with reflections on the power of poetry.
Stress and Duress
Words flow out of my pen (or keyboard) during times of stress and duress. Vulnerabilities are exposed and I am eager to explore them. Raw emotion bubbles to the surface. I am forced to deal with difficult and persistent problems. Whether health, family conflict, or financial woes, poetry helps put them in perspective.
Poetry gets at the root of a problem with a minimum of words. Finding the perfect
word to express an idea, an emotion, a feeling, drives me to explore the depths of those ideas, emotions, and feelings. It compels me to really examine my situation. To consider out-of-the-box solutions. Writing the words forces me to look not only at the details but at the big picture as well.
Creativity
I am my most creative under stressful conditions. Something happens in my brain that frees me up in ways that aren’t available to me under normal circumstances. It’s as if my inner editor has fled the building. I allow myself to play with unconventional perspectives, consider unorthodox viewpoints, or juxtapose dissimilar ideas.
Poetry is therapeutic. It is the perfect vehicle to boil things down to their essence. On the one hand, poetry makes me think hard about whatever is bothering me. But on the other hand, poetry allows me to pull from the universe to make comparisons and contrasts between elusive concepts and concrete objects.
Poetry is, perhaps, the most personal form of expression. There is no right or wrong way to write it, no matter what your high school English teacher told you. When you write from the heart, poetry is therapeutic.
