Photo by lauralefurgeysmith
Most everyone that has access to education has had a poetry unit. From writing poems to analyzing them, we’ve all done some sort of activity to do so. Billy Collins is a well-known poet, and in his piece “Introduction to Poetry”, he describes his sadness when he sees people trying to understand a poem. In many cases, people try to hard to understand a poem and forget to enjoy and really feel the emotion in the poem. Poetry isn’t just about annotating and taking meaning out of each and every word. It’s about the bigger picture, as each line flows to the next. It’s about finding out a poem’s true purpose, not about finding out the exact meaning of every line. Collins accurately depicts this when he says “I want them to waterski across the surface of a poem waving at the author’s name on the shore¨. The reality in it all is when he says “But all they want to do is tie the poem to a chair with rope and torture a confession out of it.” When Collin talks about the mouse, he refers to exploration. Exploring the poem and feeling all its walls, in order to find the light switch, which would be the meaning of a poem. This case of trying too hard to understand each and every word instead of appreciating something in its full picture is applicable to the real world.
In the real world, I often find people, especially young students, think too hard about the future and about the life ahead of them. They plan the life ahead of them piece by piece to the smallest degree, and while although plans and goals are good, too many creates stress and restrictions. By dwelling too much on the future, which is often unpredictable, we tend to forget about enjoying the present. Instead of tying life to a chair and torturing a future out of it, we should try to enjoy it and “waterski across the surface”. To live life to the fullest and with freedom is what it means to be human. Appreciate the present and really try to feel out life like with reading a poem. Don’t restrict yourself to the pressure and ideals of society like everyone else. Follow your own path, free from the harsh annotation of others.
I like to tie this idea with Taoism. In Taoism, the lifestyle of going with the flow and appreciating life as you go along is embedded in its beliefs. Live carefree and notice every detail around you as your eyes take in the scenery in front of you. Whether it be your house that you see every day, or a beautiful landscape that you found on vacation. Really feel out the things before you, like Collins says in line 8 of his poem. This is the lifestyle that I live myself. To me, it is really important to live in the present, as it is less restricting. When you fall victim to the chains of the future or dwell on the dangers of the past, life becomes difficult and less enjoyable. I want to stray away from that feeling. I like live life spontaneously and let fate or the natural order of things decide things for me. As someone with an optimistic view on things, I like to think that everything happens for a reason. Life isn’t something that needs to be taken too literally, a lot of the times life is simple. Simple like a poem, that is just trying to get it’s message and feelings across to the reader.
Introduction to Poetry
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.