Poetic Justice

Where speaking in tongues and child gibberish fall short, poetry does an inspired job of making it certain that no sense is made, that the plot is entirely lost. It doesn't make sense when you read it, and it doesn't make sense that it is a continuing phenomena, once again, i am left confounded. Of course, with English GCSE still ringing in my ears, it is only right to say that many poems do make sense, and posses a tangible story or meaning; one that you don't have to dig until your fingernails are torn away for.

However, it occurs to me that much of what some poetry tries to say, convey or elude to could be said in a far shorter time and in a much less complicated and coded way. Its indirect illumination of topics is a middle man too far. Its closest comparison is giving me braille to read. Why make the message so confusing? I don't need the supplementary experience that arises from working out the meaning of the poem; predominantly rage.

I don't believe anyone actually finds their thoughts about the world floating around habitually in the whimsy of poetic surrealism; such detachment from reality would cause the body to irreversibly shut down. Bizarre, absurd surrealist poetry with incorrect grammar and spelling, and a disorderly structure can only be a form of salvation from writers' block; it can't be judged since it's logical errors are all intentional, the writer has written something, and that something is a fortress of defense against criticism.

It occurred to me that if a poem talks about nature, perhaps its beauty, then you are far better off wandering into the depths of a wood, and appreciating nature for yourself. Why appreciate a beautiful poem when you can appreciate the subject that the poem itself finds beautiful. Any beauty permeating through the poem can never be as beautiful as the thing it describes, it can only ever be superficial in this respect. A poem is a review of the subject matter or concept, an opinion or description of it...why not jump past all these things and just appeal to the subject matter or conceptual idea itself, for it is there that you will get the true 'message' that the poem is trying to deliver, one that is made of your cognitive thoughts that are stimulated by the concept rather than someone elses. If you prefer the poems illustrations of conceptual information, you should also wander into the depths of a wood, and end it all.

In conclusion, i see no real need for it. It has no place in the universe. To say it is an unnecessary evil is perhaps an unfair appraisal of this radical poetry, to say it is unnecessary however, is nothing but fair. It has no bearing on reality, and is inadequate when reviewed in the shadow cast over it by television, music or films.

Such poetic lunacy can be aligned with modern art in terms of its value to society; fuck all. Modern art is clearly a step made by those less able at painting, at sculpture, those that can't do. Instead they've tailored their very own style; interpretive art, art that expresses 'emotions', political discourse, world problems, etc. etc.

I recently visited the Sistine Chapel, just another one of those priceless artifacts that the Vatican hoards greedily. Anyway, it was astonishing, the level of artwork, commitment and genius required to turn this huge blank canvas into an apotheosis of design is enough to make me question my own existence through feelings of inadequacy. Micheal Angelo puts both modern art and poetry to shame. Through the chapel, he tells a poetic fable through the use of faultless art. Simultaneously he makes the modern art community and radical poetry communities look very small and worthless. He probably had great expectations for the evolution of design and writing. In most respects, these expectations should consider themselves fulfilled. However, if he bared witness to the unforgivable regression into modern art, i think he would have never have become an artist, rather, a campaigner to nip this shitstorm in the bud and deem all art as satanist work.

I will stress here at the close, that i find many poems appealing, and also moving, most particularly those written about warfare and loss. This post targets the newer, alternative style of writing, ones that perhaps i will find moving, but have yet to unravel and comprehend.