Why Love Poetry? Why Does It Matter?

April is poetry month. I had forgotten that fact, but fortunately, I have already begun the month with some tributes to poets and poetry (maybe a subconscious awareness?). In The New York Times Sunday Book Review  David Kirby has written has a very interesting review of  Beautiful and Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry, by David Orr. Kirby gives us a great examination of why those of us who love poetry are drawn to it.

Reading this review brought to mind  Dana Gioia’s book of essays, Can Poetry Matter. Gioia’s theme is that poetry has become the province of the academic elite and as a result, the mainstream of society has tragically lost ownership of an art which once belonged to the people.  If you are interested in poetry, I recommend checking out both of these resources.