#thats completely your prerogative like you should pursue what you enjoy

[girlfictions]

hari can i ask a stupid question... how does one go about reading/liking poetry actually ???

idk how to explain, whenever i read poetry i kinda just think, huh ! like i don't know how to interpret it or where to start with figuring it out in the same way as other forms of writing etc. i think i am just too dumb to get poetry a lot of the time or just not on the same vibe. i like stuff other ppl curate tho so i will try some of your recs! persevering :(

this isn't a stupid question at all! honestly, i struggled with this at first when i was younger and hadn't read much poetry yet. i think poetry is something that can be much more personal than prose — that is, you often feel as though you need to connect to the source material in a far more significant way in order to really "get it." and i don't necessarily believe that to be wholly true, but it does serve as a good starting-off point; i, for one, initially found myself veering towards the work of female poets when i began reading poetry. similarly, certain poets are famous for focusing on particular subjects; mary oliver's poems on nature are some of my favourites of all time, and they're also very digestible to someone who might not particularly be a huge reader or a poetry reader at all! it might take a little research to find a poet whose work you click with, but once you do, it's so so worth it. from there, branching out into particular styles (contemporary, free verse etc.) is just a matter of personal taste.

when it comes to "interpreting" poetry, there's a quote i think about a lot from angela carter:

“Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.”

poetry doesn't need to bring about some grand epiphany of the self — it can be as simple as connecting to a singular phrase, or even just a word, and carrying it with you.