Why do people write poetry and what is the purpose of this art form compared to prose?
For many people writing poetry is an act of self-expression. There is often something deeply personal connected to weaving words, metaphors, rhyming patterns and imagery to provide some inarticulable sense of something.
There are a few key distinctions between prose and poetry:
Prose is often a medium one uses to provoke thought.
Poetry is often a medium one uses to evoke feelings.
Prose tends to be logical, analytical and purposeful.
Poetry is emotional, creative and free-floating.
Obviously, poetry can't be all of the things that prose is, and vice versa. Poetry and prose are different vessels that, due to the nature of the medium, are often best-suited for different things.
So, in sum, I write poetry when I want to express something that cannot be easily expressed in logical, precise and analytical forms.
Below is an example of my poetry; it was a published award winning poem.
Why the sea?
These salty sailors, their brave facade
To live on earth
Where foot is fine
The sea no place to tread
No riches by the air divine
Its rolling mass
Its constant sway
Its creatures vast
Its darkness grey
Its gleaming gift
Its wondrous scent
Its rape, the price of man's betray
Why kill this place
Where bodies lie
Why oil the arms
For soft embrace
Why make it sick
And watch in awe
The spray its tears to cry
Why pray for souls and sigh
All it swallows
All its anger
Why can't we see
It's only on its grace we sail
No natural place for you and me
But turn it will
And in its churning mass
Its boil of blood
Will cry
Why me?
Why the sea?