One group, Poetry Oasis, meets twice monthly at the Cool Beans diner for readings while the older Poetry Asylum holds slam sessions at the Java Hut. And for three decades, the Worcester County Poetry Association has been meeting regularly. Language is shrinking. Poetry lets people express themselves. It gives a voice to marginal people.
Every human has a story to tell.
Managers of local bookstores say they ve been hosting readings for children and adults to remain abreast of steadily rising poetry sales. Louise Mutterperl, Borders marketing manager, said children s poets, Shel Silverstein, Jack Prelutsky and Dr. Seuss, remain popular while serious poets like Pinsky, current Laureate Stanley Kunitz and Seamus Heaney sell briskly as do American favorites like Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson. So many of the moral, ethical and philosophical issues that students deal with aren t treated in other courses. A published poet, Bidart considered some rap music as poems because they reflect the changing face of English as a necessary characteristic of poetry. You don t have to choose between them.