“Enlightened”

A poem—and a homespun primer on poetry too.

If you’ve hung around here for more than a minute, you know I’m a hope-writer at heart.

The following piece may feel discordant on the first read, but that is on purpose—it is designed to elicit reflection by allowing the reader to experience discomfort.

Poetry lovers will recognize this straightaway, but perhaps those who are generally drawn to direct prose will appreciate this peek behind the scenes.

---

Have you ever wondered what makes a poem a poem? (Hint: it’s not all about the rhyme)

Here is my personal, non-academic primer: Poetry is a literary genre that utilizes sound, structure, and deliberate word choice to offer multi-dimensional meaning and evoke feeling.

Poetic devices include meter, assonance, rhythm, and alliteration—as well as the way line-breaks are employed to emphasize a particular point.¹ And yes, sometimes they even rhyme.

---

Poetry is meant to be mulled over, not rushed through—contemplated, not merely consumed.

---

Often, the author is attempting to deliver maximum impact using only a handful of words, making the form an exercise in thrift.

Reading a poem slowly, (and more than once) while pondering the nuance of word choice and cadence, will always make for a richer, more robust reading experience. So without further ado, here is my offering for the week.

---

Note: The poetry above is the second piece of writing inspired by this exercise. The first one lives here, and is entirely different in both form and feel.

1. This is not an exhaustive list by any means! Repetition, irony, (which was utilized in my poem today!), symbolism, metaphor, onomatopoeia, personification, etc. are all tools worth exploring when it comes to reading and writing poetry.