Notes by Richard J Turner

• Why do we like to read poetry?
• What makes poetry by teenagers different?
• Poetry To Remember

Why do we like to read poetry?

Poetry is simple. It is a form of expression. The same form of expression say, throwing your arms in the air when frustrated may be. Or the same sort of expression that a painter's brush may paint. It is simply the freedom of thought, of creativity, and of imagination projected onto paper via pen and ink to induce an emotional reaction within its reader.

There have been, obviously, phases of poetry - more of which is described in this page. The imagination and opinion of the writer changes, with time, having to be flexible to the demands of the current time period. One may, for example celebrate an occasion whereas another poem may look tragically at one. Poetry is a creative way of presenting one's independent thoughts. It is also interesting to see how two different poets can look at one single event in two completely different ways. If poetry from the Great War is taken as an example, great poets often went though several phases of emotion, opinion, and expression about the war. The experience of the writer leads to the experience of the reader.

Experience plays a key role in the emotional effect that a poem has. A lot of poetry is written to prompt an emotional decision or reaction in a reader. The experience of the writer and the experience of the reader may not be the same, and this is how different interpretations of poetry comes about. It is important to realise that poetry is not always written to be understood, but rather to have judgement passed on it.

What makes poetry by teenagers different?

To put it simply, if teenage poetry wasn't different, then I wouldn't have made this website. I believe there are several hallmark differences between teenage poetry and adult poetry, and it is often easy to tell which is which - in the same way you can tell a female writer from a male writer.

I think one of the key factors that makes the poetry so different, is the maturity of the writer. Adolescences are exploring a world that is becoming new to them with new emotions; new people; new experiences - and their poetry often reflects the exploration of these new feelings. After reading the poetry on this website, it becomes very apparent that teenage poetry varies very little. The poetry seems to reflect the new emotions that the writer is feeling, and most of the poems on this website share this. Each one raises the questions that every teenager feels, and so make the poems easy to relate to.

Take, for example, the following poem:

A teardrop falls off your face,
Your body no longer moves with grace.
You’ve changed so much, so recently,
You never let anyone close to you see.

The pain you went through every single night,
Seemed to help you think things were right.
But you always knew the truth was there,
You just never got the courage to let anybody care.

You thought they’d turn you away,
Tell you to come back any other day,
You took this as people wanting you hurt,
You only let the situation get worse.

You couldn’t help it, I more than know,
You figured yourself you had nowhere to go.
You kept it all locked up inside,
You were a little girl again wanting to hide.

Now the pain’s still around,
It’s just not constantly pushing you to the ground.
You’ve fought your battle and almost won,
You can now live your life and easily move on.

Although Grace may be talking about herself here, the repetition of the world "you" gives the reader a way of relating to the feelings that Grace portrays. The title is convenient, as the "Battle with Love" is something that teenagers grow with.

The way I would summarise this, would be by saying that teenage poetry raises the questions of growing up. It helps share the pain and joy with other young people in the same position, not with understanding, but with questions. Poetry by adults may add a sense of understanding to these topics. I would therefore say that teenagers and their emotions provide a solid and significant foundation for the deeper and more understanding poetry by adults, and should be recognised for doing so.

But let's face it. Since the days of romanticism a lot of poetry has revolved around emotion and feelings. During the teenage period, a lot of emotional changes take place, and it may be these changes that lead to great poetry. I would therefore say teen writing is not only different, but a fundamental stage in the creative and emotional elements that make great writers.

Poetry to Remember