What is a poem good for?

       Asking what a poem is good for is like asking what is a painting good for. A world without art would be quite dull. Poetry and art bring life, beauty, and emotion to the world around us.   Poetry is made to go beyond words on a page. Well written poems cut into the reader’s soul and helps them to feel and learn something about truth and themselves.

       Symbolistic poems may be simple for some people to write, but not for me. The process of choosing an object and making it into a symbol people will understand feels almost impossible. It takes being able to not only feel the emotion strongly, but also the ability to contain that emotion in an object by words alone. I find that to be the most difficult part of writing a symbolic poem. It’s difficult enough to captor a strong emotion in words when writing. Emotion is hard enough to describe as it is. I have a lot of friends who are so caring. They feel every little thing. A part of me almost envies them. All the girls who say they are too emotional don’t understand how beautiful it is to see their tears. They care and it shows. Whether or not they know it, those emotions are not weakness, but strength. I’m not like them. Things don’t get to me. I’m not emotional like that. It’s not easy to write about an emotion you don’t feel, even harder to capture it into an object.