It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is there
-- William Carlos Williams
We are all busy, crazy busy. Life has its fist around our throats and it won't let go. So ... poetry ... I suppose I could write reams about this. But I ask myself ... is it worth the effort to read hundreds of bad poems? Am I really suffering because I did not read a mediocre poem? Like my poems, for instance. Perhaps I derive some minor personal benefit from the struggle to create a "poem," but why should anyone else read it? And if they did, why would I think it made a difference in their lives? I do not worship at the altar of Literature or Poetry, but I am still moved by great literature or poetry. However, the effort to find it is daunting, and one must wade through so much that is not worth reading.
Sure, William Carlos Williams is famous, but why would his thoughts expressed in this poem be worth the trouble just because it is a poem rather than an essay or an opinion piece? Why poetry rather than non-fiction or essays? Is this "death" only metaphysical, "spiritual," or is it also physical?
I don't know. I don't have an answer. Instead of writing something "profound," tonight I am at a loss. Will I die miserably because of it?
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