At this point we know that poetry is memorably speech, how to scan verse, rhyme, and use sounds to stitch words together. So what do we do now?
"Write poems and get them published?"
To what end?
"What do you mean?"
How many contemporary poems do you read each day?
"Well, none, but..."
Exactly. No one is going to read your poem, even if it is printed in a magazine.
"Okay, post it on my blog then."
And how much time do you spend reading verse on blogs? Or social media?
"Probably none..."
Precisely. No one reads poetry. Except, perhaps, others who want to be published there and trying to get a feel for the editor's preferences.
Thus, the question becomes: "Under what circumstances would anyone want to read or hear our poetry?"
"If it's set to music, maybe?"
Yes, but let's just talk about spoken verse here. When might people want to read or hear poetry, as opposed to song lyrics?
"Never?"
Pretty much, yes. Never.
"So what do we do?"
We create an audience.
"And how do we do that?"
We ask ourselves: What do people find interesting?
"Movies? Television?"
Right. So our task is to get our poems into movies and/or television.
Consider the three best poems of this century. All were made into slide shows. They attracted 1444 hits over a combined (14+14+15) 43 years. That is 33.58 hits per year. All were historical perspectives, the idea being that anyone making a documentary or feature film would web search the subject, find the poem, and consider including it.
Never happened. A more targeted approach is in order. Find out what your favorite director's upcoming project is, write a poem about that, make a video, post it onto social media, then join an online discussion group for that director or genre and, after establishing yourself, casually mention your piece there.
If that is not your style then write for an upcoming event. You have four months from now (2024-08-25) until Kamala Harris is sworn in as POTUS. Use that time to write, perform, record, and post an inaugural poem. Get going on it!
Other Venues and Embedded Poetry
In addition to songs there are open mics and slams. These attract participants and their entourages more than listeners, per se.
Shakespeare didn't publish his sonnets. What poetry he did publicize was his dramatic verse. Plays. He made enough to sustain two theatres--not just the troupe of actors but the actual buildings. It is unclear that the Bard could do that today but it is certain that no one else has managed to do this in the 21st Century.
A different approach is to write a novel or movie script that includes (i.e. "embeds") poetry. For example, "The Paradox of Love" is a novel/movie about two open mic poets who fall in love. One has to depart [because of an undisclosed illness] so the poem she wrote as her wedding vows now serve as her farewell.
Consider this: There is only one time every four years when the anglophone world listens to a poem: the U.S. presidential inauguration ceremony. At that, only after a Democratic victory.
So here's a practical suggestion for American versers: Write an inaugural poem and have it performed (i.e. by yourself or someone else) on a video posted to YouTube. Add "2025 Inaugural Poem" after the title (e.g. "Locked Towards the Future" - A 2025 Inaugural Poem) so scouts can find it. Not an American? Pair up with one.
You may need to network, joining up with a performer and, perhaps, a songwriter. In any event, writing and producing a performance (even on your telephone) will be only half the battle. You will need to spent at least as much time, energy, resources, and imagination finding an audience.
Good luck!
