While poetry is one of the most complex literary genres, it can also be simple, ambiguous, and innovative at the same time. One could even say that it is one of the most mysterious literary genres, even if for others, it is a manifestation of different perspectives on life and human emotions. Poems, like novels, short stories, monographs, and essays, have a purpose that has always been to express ideas and thoughts that I cannot express verbally.
This is why I have always loved to write. Giving shape to the stories and ideas that go through my head has been my escape from reality for the last decade. However, when writing what they call poetry, I realized almost immediately that it was not and was not going to be my thing. Some people have told me that I don’t like poetry because I can’t understand it. I remain firm that it is simply something that was not meant for me.
I don’t know if it’s because of the rules, that no matter if I review them millions of times, they never manage to stay in my head. I also don’t know if it is due to those times when I tried and managed to have a result that was moderately acceptable to me, but due to strong criticism, I discarded it and never achieved something similar again. Perhaps another reason would be seeing how people close to me make wonderful, profound poems that manage to convey a long list of feelings others can easily identify with.
Beyond the talented people around me, there are those great heroes of poetry I have studied that have served as inspiration for me, some that I talk about in my previous article Meet Some Puerto Rican Female Writers. The enthusiasm and emotion that I felt at some point to try and create a moderately acceptable poem that would allow other people to identify themselves or connect with their feelings is currently null for me. So I put that idea aside and started focusing more on writing anything other than poetry.
Recognizing that I was not good at poetry was something I struggled with for many years. However, I realized that human beings are not designed to do everything or do it well. So I decided to stop tormenting myself with the frustration that poetry caused me. Instead, I focused on writing stories and presenting feelings in other ways, and I realized that not only am I good at doing so, but I also enjoy it alot. My conclusion? Doing what you love doesn’t mean that you have to follow a certain rule or be like others, just do whatever makes you happy.