Formed by our experiences

With the poetry that we read this week, one thing that became very clear to me was that we bring ourselves to poetry. Whether we are reading poetry or writing poetry, our expierences go into the poem. I think that is different than prose just because there is so much left up to interpretation.

I guess because we started with Eliot and the discussion of war, I can see war, whether mental or physical in all that we read this week. The poets seem to be both angry and contemplative and in search of something bigger than themselves.

I start poetry with my students tomorrow and I have to admit that I'm more excited about it than I have been for a while.