Poetry Day

I, like many others who have already voiced their enjoyment of poetry day, feel the necessity to extend my own appreciation of it. The intimacy of the circled setting relaxes the defensive need to withhold personal reflections on the poems of our choice, and I felt, in some small way, connected to each of my fellow classmates as they shared and expressed their poems and the reasons behind the poems they chose. Poetry, more so than most other forms of writing, seems to express more of a rawness, revealing nothing less than the "dirty truth" of reflection.

"The Waking" has always been my favorite poem, probably because I did form such an attachment to it during my adolescence, which we all know is a crucial time in the development of our beings. However, I consider it to be mine; like Roethke wrote it specifically for my own reflection and consideration, and because of this, I briefly thought about changing my selection to my second favorite poem : "George Gray" by Edgar Lee Masters. Had I known we were going to be afforded more than one poem, I would have brought it along with "The Waking"... ah well, perhaps some other time.

I particularly enjoyed hearing the personal poetic musings of a few of my classmates. Poetry is a meticulous art requiring either a natural tendency toward it, or a patient forger, and I truly appreciate hearing an artist read their own work. I, on the other hand, having neither the natural tendency, nor the patience, will stick to simply reading it from others, and writing only my prose. :)