In Praise of Poets
I am at work, reading a book on the nervous system with a cup of coffee (always a cup of coffee) by my side. The book is fascinating, and I am highlighting at least one thing on every page. I have placed colour coded sticky tabs throughout the pages, reminders of places to come back to and review. I write odd notes in the margins, references to other theories or semi-sensical thoughts that make sense only to me. The book is science-y but accessible, and I am enthralled.
As I continue reading, I begin to notice poetry. Alongside scientific jargon about autonomic nervous system responses is an excerpt from Rilke. Later, there is one from John O’Donohue. Then Maya Angelou. Then Thích Nhàt Hạnh. As I read these excerpts of poetry alongside scientific concepts, I am reminded science can only explain so much. We need art to express this odd and enthralling experience of being human.
This is in praise of poets, for it is the poets of this world who illuminate the lonely darkness within and reveal we are not as alone as we thought we were. It is the poets who vulnerably pull back skin from sinew and reveal themselves, acting as a mirror to reveal ourselves in the process. It is the poets who put meaning to experience, who arrange our humanity like a case study of existence, all on a page for examining. It is the poets who lean into limits, who somehow craft a haiku that makes you cry with seventeen syllables. It is the poets who are truly present to the world, finding beauty in beauty, and beauty in pain, and pain in pain, and pain in beauty.
Science explains us, as best as it can, but poetry expresses us. Poetry takes one look at the shiny gem of existence and explains it, one single facet at a time. It is the poets who make you notice the wonder of being alive.
Let us be people who live in wonder of being alive.
If there’s a poem or poet you love, I’d love you to share! Meanwhile, here are some poems that have been meaningful to me:
Good Bones by Maggie Smith
The Uses of Sorrow by Mary Oliver
For Suffering by John O’Donohue
From Blossoms by Li-Young Lee
Birdsong by David Gate
Shedding Skin by Harryete Mullen