What is wrong with modern Poetry? No one buys modern poetry books. No one reads a modern poet? What happend

Question

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


“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 labour. 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. What is wrong with American poetry.? We live in a land that hates poets ?
FInd out more at : greatestlivingpoets.com

Answer 1

Very poetic Mark ..!
It is good to see you have found you purpose and goal in this time ... your life !
To rekindle the flames and the passion in words ..! Are you Brave enough to embark on the journey..!To break free from the heated egg of unrest in which one remains ! ... will you be the Phoenix that rises from these smoldering embers .. glorious in flight .with an inferno of alphabetical plumes that even the brightest of days could not dull .. and as you leave a trail of wonder across the sky ... turn flaming tail to the past horizons..!Then In an almighty flap .... and shriek (so deafeningly sweet that even angels would sneak a peek ...) the new words of a new day will be born !
If Poetry is your passion .
It is to trust in the words and to always know they will reach the right people in the right time .. be it ,if you ,the writer have been dead for centuries ..!
if you worried about cash ... if you don't love money ! like all things ,it will not love you back .!. money is not a bad thing in its self.. its what people do with it that makes it look bad .. ! trust that you will be the better spender !

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

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 4

Are you serious? Have you been to your local Poetry slam recently? I know alot of the kids do the rapper approach to poetry but not all there are rare gems if you are willing to pay attention, even better, if you are willing to share your own work.

Answer 5

People are too busy watching 24 to worry about poetry.

Answer 6

understanding poetry is so difficult for someone whose interests lay only in entertaining oneself with the offspring of our social culture: movies, tv shows, computergames, etc, things that don't require intelligence, things that are easy to understand and forget. it's like eating a fat cheeseburger instead of a delicious home cooked meal. people preffer eating a hamburger every two hours and getting fat, obtaing pleasure for a short period of time, so repeating it, instead of taking some time to cook a meal, enjoying it, getting the proteins and minerals u really need instead of lipides. but that's the prototype of modern american.

Answer 7

Maybe people feel that today's society is to self indulged, immature, and uneducated in grammar to write anything of significance.

Answer 8

is it the quality of American poetry or the quality of literacy?

Answer 9

People got to into technology...for all we no one day we could be without books!...but when is the question.

Answer 10

tricky matter. research into google and yahoo. this may help!