Life is poetry and prose

Last night I went to see Tracy K. Smith, Poet Laureate for the United States at the Library of Congress. She reminded me of why poetry is so important. Some of my take-aways were:

• Poems ask us to submit to another experience of reality
• Poems are a means of self-preservation, a way of affirming commitment to the belief that our lives can and should matter to one another
• All Americans have something quietly urgent and human to offer one another
• Poems lead us more deeply into ourselves - then into commonalities - and give us new vocabulary
• Poetry makes us humble and vulnerable (it is "vulnerable-making" for both poet and audience)
• Good poems invite oneness. If there is an us vs them dynamic, it's bad poetry, even if it's has social justice themes.

I loved that she would talked about how a poem "behaves." And I love a poem that invites me into my spirituality!