My literature professor taught me to hate poetry. - Richard J. Long's Blog

My literature professor taught me to hate poetry. Yes, I
said hate it, whereas, my father taught me to love it. The professor insisted
that he knew exactly what the author meant or the interpretation of a poem. I
always thought. Did you ask them? I would never have challenged him with this
question, because I was not assertive like that. I found that my interpretation
of a poem usually did not match the professors. This made me feel like my
thoughts were not important and that I was rather stupid. The only way I earned
a C in his class was to memorize a long Robert Frost poem and recite it to the
class.

Thankfully, my father taught me how poetry can be used as a
lens to look at our world. He has written numerous poems that focus on
significant historical moments, such as, the end of the Civil War at Appomattox.
To me, this makes history more interesting. Because of my father, I use poetry
to capture beautiful moments in the world around me. Like in a painting, how a
person receives it is how they perceive the world around them. It could even be
how they feel at that moment in time. Perhaps more young people would enjoy
poetry if professors would help them see the fun and interesting ways it can be
used to look at their world! Thank goodness, for a website like Poetry Soup
where the creative and fun lens of poetry thrives!