What is wrong with modern poetry? There is no market for poetry, nobody reads modern poetry books. Why?

Question

POETRY MANIFESTO – June 2006
Source: greatestlivingpoets.com
by Mark Rendina

“That there is poetry is the only evidence that man truly exists”

The Latin American poet quoted above was wise beyond his years. He had the luxury of participating in a culture that still prized the power of the written word as incantation. A machine can be programmed to make everything a man can make—airplanes, pictures, prose, music—but only one craft still requires
exclusively the active participation of a human: poetry. Only a human can create and judge great poetry. Yet no poet currently living can make a living from his labor. This is because modern poetry has been written as prose and the public can not name a poet now living. The public does not buy poetry books. They do
not expect to be pleased when they see a book of modern poetry in the shops.
And they are right. But why has the beauty and meter gone out of the songs?
Source: greatestlivingpoets.com

Answer 1

Firstly, poetry is not like prose in a way that u can translate it easily and disseminate in all the world. It is said that only if a person understands the prose written in his language, he is a master of language.
Poetry nowadays ignores the very well known cliches which come from the, lets say 20th century literature. the modern poetry is strange, ununderstandable, as most people think. Thats the problem. In modern world, stuffed with information technologies people are too lazy to think - that's what poetry is demanding for.
Prose is in the same stage actually - just ask what's every1 favourite book and three fourths, if nor more, will answer Da Vinci code - because its explanatory bullshit. How many would choose, for instance, Hesse's Steppenwolf or Glass Bead Game? The very few, who also dont mind modern poetry.

Answer 2

I think the problem is that just as our society has changed and become more cynical and misanthropic. So has poetry. It's the nature of the beast. And as the poetry darkens, it becomes less attractive to the masses. Lets face it. We all see the crap in the world. We deal with it everyday. Why would we want to entertain ourselves with it. Thats not to say all modern poetry is dark and foreboding. It can be beautiful and uplifting. It can raise people from the depth and give them wings. I dont think most people expect that sort of thing from modern poets though. I think for people to embrace the modern poet, they, their community, and publishers must work to improve modern poetry's street cred. as something that will ease the darkness in peoples lives, not just reflect it.

Answer 3

I think there is the same sentiment with literature, too. I believe that with all the mandatory testing both at the state and government level, that teachers do not have the time and space to explore poetry in a meaningful manner that would pique their students' interest. In Washington where I used to teach, one month was spent administering standardized tests and the majority of teaching centered around preparing for the content and skills needed to pass the tests. I had teachers who had taught for decades tell me that it was no longer the exciting realm of learning through doing and exploring. Even recess is being cut out in favor of teaching to the tests. The companies and politics that promote standardized testing have managed to take the joy out of learning and extinguished much of the creative arts and literatures from the curricula.

Answer 4

All hope is not lost. I am 28 years old and have written poetry my whole life. It is not a lost art yet! It is when we give up that the next generation will lose awareness of the world of poetry. I, for one, will not let that happen.

Answer 5

THANK YOU!!!
I know people who write beautifully but like you said why even look for a publisher b/c there is no market. Sucks. To make a living writing you have to write trash novels or "cute" books.

The other option is to sell your poetry for song lyrics at which time it will be immediately altered and ruined for you yet MIGHT keep your name. (if the song is not good you will get credit for the lyrics otherwise they own you)

Answer 6

School makes poetry suck (sorry that I have to put it this way). In school we are forced to read poetry, the teacher explains the poem, and any other ideas about it are ignored. That's why I don't read poetry!

Answer 7

I'm a closet poetry fan =P I think people don't read modern poetry because there's nothing original and it's not as popular as it once was.

Answer 8

Mostly because of the medium you're typing on. I read poetry and these dufus kids need to realize that all music lyrics , including rap, are poetry. The word lyrics and lyrical poetry, something in common there? Thanks to you sir, great question.

Answer 9

Two reasons:

Society today sees poety as boring, prefering music and television as the more "interactive" form of art/entertainment.

Also most poety will be compaired to the earlier works of poets long since past, who very hard to compete against.

Answer 10

In today's world, nobody wants to devote their precious time to the analysis of worldplay and lexical noodling. We have other things to do, things that offer more amusement and stimulation.