Interpretaion: Poetry is Scary

In speaking to my mate last night I came upon a realization. Poetry is scary. I don't mean serial killer jumping out of the bushes with a baked bean can on his head painted like former president Bush scary. What I mean is that you read poetry and your eyes start crossing and you don't want to say anything because you don't want to hurt the creators feelings and you just don't know how you are supposed to interpret this piece that you're muddling through.

My mate says he's jealous of my poetry. Not the mean nasty jealous, but the I wish I could do that jealous. When I pointed out that he never even talks about what I write, he said that if he talked about it then he would probably misinterpret it or the discussion would color my poetry in the future.

This got me to thinking and in that twisted way I have I realized that probably for many people, poetry is just scary. No one wants to be the bad guy, or wrong, or anything. Some just want to quietly enjoy or contemplate what was written because it's safest to read and keep quite.

I say in my own way, that that is so much BS. I write my poetry because I have a million things to say to a million different people and I don't want to sit writing a novel about it in order to get my point across. Sometimes I have an object on my mind, sometimes it's a specific phrase. What I enjoy best is when people read my poetry and comment, send feedback, and generally open their mouths to taste the fresh air with full realization that the Bush baked bean man will not be shoving a shoe in their mouth at any moment.

So I say to you people, if you don't like the piece, say so, in my mind it didn't speak to you, oh well we'll try again. Tell me how YOU interpret it, what do you see when you read what I've written. I am always astounded by how other people interpret my works and quite frankly it tickles me pink to hear/read the comments.

Side Note: I will continue to post my older pieces in an attempt to generate new avenues for new pieces. Some of you have seen these, some of you have not. I will always let you know if it's an older piece. If it's recently written then you will just find the poem. :) Happy interpretations, and remember... you are never wrong with poetry.