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Does poetry make the world a better place?

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Does poetry make the world a better place?

What if there was more poetry in the world

Jason McBride
Jan 15
10
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Does poetry make the world a better place?

weirdopoetry.substack.com

Hi All-Weather Friends!

Is all-weather friends the opposite of fair-weather friends?

Poetry is not essential to human survival in the same way that food and shelter are. I saw a thread on social media recently where poets were arguing about the importance or essentialness of poetry.

It was pretty toxic, and I won’t share it here.

Instead, I will leave you with a quote from Dean Young’s book, The Art of Recklessness:

Let us suppose everyone in the world wakes up today and tries to write a poem. It is impossible to know what will happen next but certainly we may be assured that the world will not be made worse.

I think more of us need to adopt the Hippocratic oath’s vow of “first do no harm.”

I want to make my corner of the world a better place, but it starts with first not making it worse—and that turns out to be not such an easy guide to live a life by.

Cheers,

Jason

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Does poetry make the world a better place?

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4 Comments
Michelle Contreras
Writes Brainbow
Jan 15Liked by Jason McBride

It's time to end censorship of poetry. Poetry, like philosophy, is a mental and spiritual exercise. Everyone can benefit from writing poetry and developing their own personal philosophy.

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Monique Hutchinson
Writes Close Confines
Jan 15Liked by Jason McBride

I wonder if in fact poetry can do harm. Just as words can be painful to read, painful to write. Is that the same as doing harm?

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