“Whereas story is processed in the mind in a straightforward manner, poetry bypasses rational thought and goes straight to the limbic system and lights it up like a brushfire. It’s the crack cocaine of the literary world.”  –Jasper Fforde
                                                                                 

Brussels sprouts have always seemed to be mysterious and untrustworthy, shrouded in a bad reputation, unnecessary even. What with all the other vegetable choices available, why risk a mouthful of yuck.  Thanks to the seductive magic of pinterest, I bought, prepared and ate Brussels sprouts for the first time. They were surprisingly delicious. The aura of suspicion has been forever dropped!

Learning to appreciate and enjoy poetry, even tentative attempts at writing it, has felt like the same experience. My perceptions completely changed once I tasted it and found that poetry is actually not at all what I thought. Poetry highlights a specific moment in the poet’s story, a flash of insight that arranges words on a page and goes beyond the mind into the heart. Poetry, just like music and visual art, is story in another form.

Here is a surprisingly delicious example, “For a New Beginning” by John O’Donohue. Bon Appetit!

SSevolve2 from traceyclark on Vimeo.