why poetry is important

Wallace Stevens:

The poet's role is to help people live their lives.

I'm listening to Nancie Atwell explain why poetry is important



I'm sold.



ok, now back to "reality."
The poems in our literature book...... I love NONE of them. I like a few. I have hardly had any poetry in my classes for years, because I cannot find value in the material I already have, and I never sought other material that I could use legally in multiple copies.

Also I have been I think cowardly about poetry. To me, its value is that it is deep and serious and goes into controversial, highly personal areas. And I have imagined problems with that, which may never arise, but they have helped block me from this vast and powerful resource.

Does it sound like I'm moving towards making the effort to find better stuff? I think so.