Poems That Mean Something: #1

I was reading an article the other day and here is a quote from it:

I still believe — however naively — that poems can speak to other human beings and can make collective society consider our own convictions, experiences, and beliefs.

This quote is in the larger context of watching academic poets get lost in technical jargon, etc., and not talking about a poem's effect in the world and on readers. Without getting into the larger merits or lack thereof in the article, I found this statement resonant.

It seems more often than not in poetry that to talk of the "big" questions is taboo. I would say similarly that philosophy often thinks the same. The impulse to consider it taboo seems to stem either from the fact that the answers are unreachable or from the continuing specialization of roles in professional and academic circles. In response to the former, I respond that because the question is unsolvable does not make it unworthy of trying. To the latter, I would suggest that unity often is characteristic of meaning and beauty...and I place a lot of emphasis on beauty.

Meaning in life--no matter where or how we find it--is vital to us day in and out. And poetry can probe those meanings and bring about a discussion not only within a community context but within a private context. Poetry may not be the salve to our ills, but it is not less for trying to be so.