My Experiences with Poetry

Of course we have all read/heard of nursery rhymes and poems when we were young, but we did we really analyze them? I know I didn't. My first encounter with poetry was with "Humpty Dumpty". I don't really think this had any significance in terms of a strong message or meaning, but then again I never really looked at it in depth. I was around five or six years old when my Norwegian grandma read this to me. Aside from her accent, I really enjoyed listening to the rhymes and silly ways of this widely know riddle. To be honest, I mainly focused on the pictures so I could easily follow what was going on. Anyway, I learned to like nursery rhymes and it was not until middle school when I really began to read real poetry.

It was around seventh or eight grade when my class began to read poetry from the blandly beige literature books. I guess I didn't mind the poems we were reading...I was pretty neutral at the time. I though it would be easy, fun, and fairly enjoyable so I kept an open mind despite what my classmates were saying. The poems in the dreaded literature book were not half bad, such as Edgar Allen Poe. I actually really liked reading them although I had a psycho teacher that decided to scarily act them out in front of the class. Other than that, this is was a GOOD experience for me. When discussing the poetry amongst my peers I realized that there are so many different interpretations to poetry and this I loved. I'm not the kind of person who wants a straight shot, one way answer...I like options and different perspectives. Poetry gave this to me.

I learned that poetry is such a beautiful thing. No matter how small a poem may be, a very large thought or message can be carried out through those few words, lines, or whatever it may be. When I hear the word poetry, I get excited because I get to not only analyze what the author is saying but have that connection with what it means to me.