Saturday, March 08, 2008
What is Poetry
(Spring comes to San Franciso)
What is Poetry
Poetry is the ongoing effort of the soul to capture in syllables the relation of the self to the larger reality which we call the divine. It seeks to outline in graspable ways the connection of the mortal to the immortal, the confined to the boundless. It is the arriving spirit’s lament for the lost paradise, and its celebration of recurrent joy at its earthly home.
Poetry issues from the realm of the mysterious, that region which resides within us all but which we can explore only through indirect and imprecise means. This realm is not available for direct scrutiny. Occasionally we catch strains of its distant song, or stumble upon fragments of its secret messages. When this happens, we call it a poem.
Dorothy Walters
March 8, 2008
