Poetry In Its Many Art Forms Today

For most of my life, I have associated poetry with bygone eras marked by Homer's The Iliad, the exciting Beowulf from an anonymous writer in the middle ages, the works of Shakespeare, and later from Wordsworth, Whitman, Eliot, Pound, Hulme, Cummings, and more. Modern poets, however, reveal their genius in many art forms that can surprise us if we really think about what is laid before us, ready for our experiential journey.

Though many scholars and practitioners enjoy making distinctions between poetry and song lyrics, I maintain that music lyrics are most certainly poetry in the rawest form. Many songs are derived from poems -- even Psalms from the Christian bible. Some music genres such as rap are frequently cited as modern poetry. This is for good reason; studying any rap song will surely reveal similarities between poetry and music that extend beyond rhythm, structure, and rhyme. Mid-20th century beat poets are, in my mind, the earliest precursors to rap lyricists, but they are far from the only influence.

As in the case of music lyrics, should we remove the visual medium from other types of art, a form of poetry remains. This may be especially true with graffiti, which is often associated with frenetic initials, explosions of colors, and at times quite beautiful artwork. Separating the visual medium from the message does not pose a problem with the example I cite below. My modern case in point is the following work from www.favim.com and republished/referenced across the Internet. The profundity of the graffiti poem stuck with me for days after coming across it:

Graffiti poem: www.favim.com

Yes, poetry in its purest sense is alive and well today. The scores of literary journals and websites that publish all types of poetry and their elements are a testament to the demand for these works, and that is to mention only one of many outlets.

As a mature human with more than my life lived, it may be considered surprising that I enjoy the TikTok video app so much in pursuit of finding my community of authors, artists, and chefs. One of my favorite TikTokers is a young man who is surely no older than 30 years of age: @trevcimenski. "Trev" speaks his poetry in the most unassuming manner that always pauses my video scrolling. This poet teases his audiences' ears with pauses --- with changes to rhythm and verse that often take me by surprise. His untitled (?) poem begins with "Years are weird" which highlights truths about the human experience as we think about time and growing older. Trev's work here is so profound surely he is a time traveler. Perhaps he comes to us with a lifetime behind him so that he can teach and guide us all via TikTok.

Whatever form we find poetry today -- whether modern or a cherished classic, isn't the main point of this narrative. What I mean to convey is how very grateful I am that it exists at all.