Poetry's Appeal

I envy Sam and Madeleine a little for the effect that poetry has on them. I have never felt that type of release from writing poetry, but perhaps that is something that I will be able to experience over the course of this semester. I do, however, feel that catharsis whenever I write shor stories. Maybe that is something I should look into.

But to me, reading poetry delivers a sense of awe and wonder. I often feel almost inspired by its perfection. It is like watching an olympic swimmer or a professional gymnast: I can do nothing but replay the performance again and again wondering how something like that can be done. My favorite poems leave me asking myself how any person could invent something so beautiful out of thin air.

I guess my ultimate goal, not my goal for this semester but for my life as a poet, is to be able to create that beauty out of nothing and be able to make someone else feel that way when they read my poetry. Unfortunately, I have a tendancy to try and mimic those things I admire in other poets rather than find my own voice. This is a habbit I would like to stray away from over the course of the next few weeks and months taking english 242.