Earlier this month, we went to a reading by the Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith. Aside from the moment when our boy decided to lose his mind right at the start (I think the audience applause startled him) and some lovely poems, she made two very interesting observations at the Q&A session at the end. These lines are well rehearsed, but they were new to me.
- She brought up the fact that we are bombarded with advertising. By definition this type of language is manipulative, furthermore the algorithm of modern life means we are being spoon fed more and more effective versions of this language. Her interesting twist is that she posits poetry confronts us with something real inside of us. Her hope that tapping into this inherent common reality made explicit via poetry may be the salve for our fractured time.
- She was asked how often a poem goes in a direction she doesn’t expect it go when she started. She responded that if a poem doesn’t go sideways she is disappointed. The process of developing the poem should startle the poet, creating new discoveries.
It made me realize how lecture series are lost on the young. During my college days I was so overloaded with schoolwork and new ideas coming from so many directions, the last thing I could handle was an additional set of lectures outside of my studies. It’s only now that living a more regimented life that I might be able to get something out of attending these things, even if I end up holding a grouchy baby watching the video capture in the foyer.