What Poems Get Done
Poems are the exploration of the common ground of human experience with the common ground of a language. Everyone has experiences throughout the day. Everyone uses language throughout the day. What most of us don’t do is look at our experiences through the lens of language and re-present (make present) that experience in an uncommon linguistic way.
That’s what poets do. Use the common medium of language and the common material of experience in an uncommon linguistic way. Poets make words work as hard as words can. A poem concentrates into a single force; words, metaphors, allusions, rhythm, musicality (sound), offering both meaning and emotion through a single source. A poem is an opening through which we can step into an experience.