Did you know that today is World Poetry Day? Well, you do now!
Why do we need a day to celebrate poetry – well, because although we need poetry every day, marking a special day reminds us of its importance, and its commonality – as the UNESCO site says, poetry is ‘one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity’.
Poetry makes us laugh, cry, think, express things we find hard to express, connect with other experiences, and so much more.
But, poetry is often seen by people who don’t know better as something hard, or something elite, or something that is somehow frivolous. It can be each of these things, but I am here to remind you that if its hard or elite then you can look elsewhere for poetry that is accessible. And as for frivolity, though not all poetry is frivolous, a bit of frivolity is a wonderful thing. At a time when the world is really hard for many people, moments of frivolity or joy can remind us of WHY we need to fight for change.
On that note, I made a little video for today, shared on Instagram, including a somewhat frivolous poem. I hope you enjoy it!
View this post on Instagram