Why Poets are the Super Hero’s of the New Year

There’s no better way to learn economy of words and compelling word choice than by looking to the poets. That’s their super power! Poets are like painters who start with the frame. They are constantly asking themselves, “How can I paint the picture I want to share within this tiny construct?” Economy of words! Read on to discover how poets can share their super power with you and make you a better story teller.

Poet Billy Collins reveals he’s Superman at a charity fundraiser with the author, Alice Fairfax.

I see poems posted all over social media on the first day of the year, every year.  A favorite for 2021 was Maggie Smith’s poem Rain, New Year’s Eve. I also saw William Carlos William’s El Hombre and i am running into a new year by Lucille Clifton.  Mary Oliver’s Wild Geese is not only a classic, it’s a classic New Year’s reminder of all we are — all we can be in our one wild and precious life. 

I spent New Year’s Day 2022 on the back porch in a lounger intermittently napping and reading poems from my favorite seasonal read Winter Song, a collaboration between Madeleine L’Engle and her friend poet Luci Shaw.  L’Engle’s cosmic eschatological ponderings are always a welcome treat as the year turns. 

Poetry is a good reset — a way to change the pace of our thinking and alter our breathing. I mean that literally. I like to use this little poem by Billy Collins, I Am Not Italian. Reading it silently I end up breathing where he would, as I imagine him reading it aloud to a crowded room. 

The compact nature of poetry is good for our creative minds. When you are trying to write story, pick up a poem and feel into the economy of words. Each word is so specifically and graphically chosen. See the scene the poet creates with a meter and just a few lines. 

For those of us that use story in everything from an actual story to a copy tagline, poetry reading can build your skills. If you have time, consider the nap next to the book of poetry. One poem and a rest. Watch how your language alters, your writing leaps and your breathing changes. 

Another good thing to do is to write a bad poem. I write one every New Year’s Day. They’re never good, but that’s not the point. The practice of writing bad poems is one I encourage. No one’s looking. You don’t have to share it. Just scribble it on the back of an envelope or buried mid-page of a journal. Use bad poetry writing to get in the practice of conveying deep ideas and big images in a small amount of words. If you do, I promise you’ll start needing poetry at least once a year. 

Ok, ok. Here’s 2022’s New Year’s Bad Poetry Practice. 

It’s the pace of the anhinga, 

Not the storks running the length of the shore, 

Nor the heron, still as a dress form. 

Not the floating white egrets or the circling osprey. 

No. It’s the anhinga’s waving wings while resting on the bank, then 

the rhythmic pulse, pulse, pulse 

as they take off 

and skim the roof.