poetry

I just looked at one of my old poems that I used to write when I was bored during Covid, and well-wow.  The whole thing might be too much to share, but here’s a snippet of it:

"....so just find love in everything u do 

find peace in everything u do

find purpose in everything u do

and then there will be no sadness

there will be no anger 

there will be no depression

only life and life only"

Honestly, I think poetry is really cool when it’s not too complicated. Deep poetry is fun to read because it opens your eyes to new perspectives, but the poetry we studied in 10th grade honors English, boringggg. It was so annoying to analyze, especially since poetry can have so many interpretations—why were we graded on finding the “correct” theme? Poetry is so much better when it flows naturally in a way that’s meaningful and reflective. Don’t get me wrong, complex poetry can be interesting, but when it’s packed with overly intense language, it just takes the fun out of it. 

Maybe that’s why I enjoyed writing poetry during Covid. It wasn’t about finding the “right” meaning, just about putting thoughts into words that felt real to me. Looking back, I can see how my writing was dramatic, maybe even a little over-the-top, but that’s what made it genuine. It was raw, unfiltered, and completely natural.

And that’s exactly what’s missing from the way poetry is taught in schools. Instead of making students analyze poems to death, why not let them create their own? Why not teach poetry as a form of self-expression, rather than a puzzle with one correct solution? Imagine if, instead of writing five-paragraph essays on Robert Frost, we were encouraged to write our own “roads less traveled.” Maybe then, more people would actually appreciate poetry instead of dreading it.

At its core, poetry isn’t about complexity, it’s about connection. It’s about words that make you feel something, whether that’s nostalgia, hope, or even discomfort. Schools should embrace that instead of making poetry another assignment to overanalyze. Because honestly, the best poems aren’t the ones we pick apart, they’re the ones that make us feel.

wait, i lowkey wanna write a poem so here it goes:

hurt PEOPLE, HURT people.

it's never the real them; it's the hurt them that finds comfort in pain,

because that's all they're used to.

to love is to be kind, to be pure, to be selfless. 

afterall, the foundation of life is love, right?

so why, why is it normalized that there is pain in love?

pain and love, acting as contrasts, yet so intertwined?

personally, i don't believe that.

we create our own suffering in love when we start to expect.

when the "what's in it for me" part comes in

if you look deeper,

it's the love within you that is the true love you give out to the world.

so before you go love someone else,

make sure you love yourself.

because ones who love themselves will never radiate energy that contrasts love.