so, poetry....

Over the past few months, my kids have been engaging me in post-bathtub conversations before they go off the bed. These conversations begin the same, "so, poetry...." and it's become a developing piece of mine by the same title. It's a performance piece and the entire piece is composed of my kids limited understanding of what poetry is. They overhear snippets of conversations between Katy and myself as we discuss the Press, or of poets who visit our house, or from watching video tape of poets reading at various poetry events in the mid-1990's.

Among the lines that my kids recite almost nightly are "poetry is our friend, poetry likes us" and "poetry kills people for real". So when I saw this book, I had to get it for the title alone. Poets Never Kill (that should end the debate entirely, except the one arguing that poetry DOES kill people is 2 years old)

Actually, my kids' understanding of poetry is about on par with the majority of Americans understanding of poetry. Perhaps we need to focus on getting kids informed, and liking it, before we attempt to "educate the masses". Who are the masses anyway but large numbers of former kids! Happy Mid-poetry month! "so, Daddy, let's talk about poetry...."