Think Abstract! :)

Metrophobia. An irrational fear of poetry. It sounds kind of absurd -- how can someone be afraid of words stringed together on a page? However, it may be a bit more common than you think. Many people tend to resist poetry, shy away from it at times. Something about this art form, so cryptic yet intimidating, scares people away from its beauty.

The Road Not Taken. Written by Robert Front, this poem is regarded as a classic amongst many, having deep meaning within its stances. A poem that first stuck out to me when I read it. At first, I wasn't sure how to interpret its essence, as I quickly got hung up on the direct meaning of the words. I fixated my attention on the words, for example on the line, To where it bent in the undergrowth;, or the line, And both that morning equally lay. I forced myself to try to understand what these lines meant. I think that's one of the ways we self-sabotage our ability to understand poems. We look for direct meaning in something, taking a systematic approach to extract some form of sense for our brains. Convergent thinking, as my Psych teacher would call it. We look for a blunt meaning, analyzing the words rather than allowing for abstract ideas to flow. The complexity is what intimidates us. Even when we convey our own feelings or thoughts, they are usually direct, coherent ideas that get the point across. In contrast, poetry weaves words into various forms, allowing for speculative interpretation. This is what we fear. Complexity.

We see the poems decorated with metaphors and rhyme sequences and immediately have a mental mind block: that we won't be able to understand the meaning. When in reality, all we really need to do is open up our minds a little more. Divergent thinking, the antonym. Free flow of ideas.

Another reason why I think we resist poetry is the way it is taught all around. Students, especially, have preconceived notions that poetry is going to be difficult to understand or learn, and begin to form this mental obstruct that holds them from truly understanding the essence of the work. Poetry is taught very formulaically, breaking down every single word into its individual meaning.

If students had the opportunity to perhaps write their own poetry or design their own string of words using their creativity, learning about poetry would be more engaging. Blackout poetry, especially, was something that stood out to me. The idea of erasing and "blacking out" certain parts of a prewritten text into new stances is something that involves creativity, and doing this allowed me to develop a love for poetry. This can often derive new meaning from existing text, depicting the potential abstractionism that poetry holds.

All it is is a change in mindset. Your mindset towards poetry, and through what perspective you view it. Convergent thinking will lead you to struggling to decipher the meaning, whereas divergent allows for a more purposeful experience. And just by doing that, I was able to understand what Frost meant. The complexity of decision making in life, and the potential regretful feeling of a missed opportunity. See? If i can do it, you can too! : D

- prish