Don't Silence the Poets

Tonight was my ward talent show. I have not participated in a talent show since my sister and I did a dance to Singin' in the Rain when we were in elementary school. Tonight I decided I should stop hiding behind my fears and start exposing my poetry. I generally don't like people to even read it, let alone reading it myself in front of a bunch of people, so this was a pretty huge deal for me. Two of my poems are being published in the literary journal at school so I chose to share one of those poems.

The trouble is that poetry is a dying art. People don't appreciate it the way they used to. There are still many people who write it, but it's not as big a deal as it once was. Back in the day it was thought of as the highest art form, now it's mostly cliche and cheesy. I've been told by poets and non-poets a like that my poetry is pretty good stuff, but it didn't win the talent show. All people care about now is music. So maybe what I'll do next time is collaborate with one of my many musically inclined friends and turn my poem into a song. I'd like to learn to play piano and guitar so I could write it all myself, but I might as well utilize the talents of others sometimes. We learned about writing ballads, maybe I'll try for a few more of those and see if anything inspires a tune out of Gonzo or my new friend AC.

After the talent show we went to Village Inn. I took some of my poetry in with me because Chelle has been asking to read some and I told The Artist I'd bring some for him to read too. After a while most of the people cleared out and it was just Pola, Gonzo, AC, and me left talking about art and words, poetry, music, and the like. Those are my favorite moments these days. I love talking with Gonzo and AC in particular. They are both so artistic. They are musicians, photographers, writers, and generally just ooze creativity, which I soak up like fresh bread. Being around artistic types inspires my own art. Being friends with Gonzo over the last few months has been like having an intimate friendship with a Greek Muse (except they were all girls and Gonzo's a boy, but you know what I mean). I want to surround myself with artists of all sorts.

I wish I had put more effort into other mediums of creativity. I took some drawing classes in jr. high school and I actually showed a lot of potential. I always wanted to create great visual masterpieces. I love photography also, and I've taken some pretty good pictures in my day. I think I have great potential to excel in many of the arts, I just need to put forth the time and attention required to develop the raw talents. I've never been very disciplined. I'm surprised I'm doing so much with my writing actually. But there is so much more that I could be doing. Maybe that's what I'll do over this week while I'm on spring break. I'll bust out my own drawing stuff, take my camera and go out in search of inspiration. I'll write and draw and photograph everything. Maybe one of these days I'll ask Gonzo or AC to teach me to play the guitar or piano...so many possibilities!