I do solitary battle with poetry. Yes, battle. I challenge the poem, it challenges me. Me and the poem, the two of us in mental combat.

From the former Gulf of Mexico
To the shores of Zuiderzee,
I have pondered verses bad and good
In the air, on land and sea.
(To the tune of The Marines’ Hymn)

Kidding. It’s a tussle, but I’m on poetry’s side. Also the Marines’s. Semper Fi. 

No one in my acquaintance likes it. That’s OK. It’s not a social medium. Poetry doesn’t need an “audience,” a circle, a claque of cognoscenti. Poetry needs a reader. I’m that man. This farflung outpost is my station. I will defend poetry here. Something Poetry editor Adrian Matejka writes in the latest issue gladdens me:

“Miscommunication” has the Latin root “communicare,” which can mean either “common” or “shared,” and in poetry, I imagine “shared” speaks to everyone involved — both poet and reader offering their understandings and confusions in equal value.”
(Poetry, May 2025)

A professional’s acknowledgment of the reader’s portion of credit and blame in making poetry happen is sweet. A poem’s signal, after all, is a vagrant wave until it meets a receiver. By the way, there’s report of a formidable poetry power in the world with which to rub shoulders and deal squarely — I speak of China.

Since the time of the Shijing (Book of Songs), which dates back to the Zhou Dynasty (c. 1046-256 BCE), poetry has served not only as an artistic form but also as a vehicle for moral guidance, emotional expression, political commentary, religious teaching, and personal reflection. It has permeated both elite and popular culture, shaping every aspect of Chinese life.
(Chun Yu, “A Circle Comes Together,” Poetry, April 2025)

Let’s set our children to learning Mandarin sooner rather than later. They’ll fare better artistically, morally, emotionally, politically, religiously and personally.

(c) 2025 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved