National Poetry Reading Day

 National Poetry Reading Day.

For those of us who have just ventured into the delightful world of both football and non football poetry the arrival of National Poetry Day was something to look forward to with enormous anticipation. For years you regarded with some scepticism the whole notion and concept of poetry of any description. It all seemed rather cheesy, kitsch and distinctly unappealing. 

What's the point in writing in a genre where the number of words in any written composition had to be restricted to a minimum and you had to discipline yourself since this was certainly not an essay, novel or a feature piece of writing and words had to be used sparingly. But the temptation to write in poetic-cum verse form became a very  real reality as a result of a Zoom meeting under the auspices of Jami, the Jewish Mental Health organisation which has served the community so admirably over the years. 

Jami provides an essential and vitally important link to Jewish people from every class, social status and background. It provides those with mental health issues, regardless of the severity of the disability a platform to express themselves. Poetry would now come into life without so much as single prompt from anybody in particular. Writing is something you've found yourself doing quite prolifically over the years but poetry sat in some remote corner of your mind, well out of reach and never ever addressed or acknowledged. Poetry, they kept telling us, would never sell in the online bookshops or the live physical bookshops because it just wasn't relevant or accessible. It wasn't fashionable nor was it mainstream. 

So up until a couple of years ago you were blithely content to keep writing lengthy blogs and descriptive prose pieces ranging from Covid 19, Donald Trump to the bizarre idiosyncrasies of the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It was personally the best fun you could ever have had with writing. To this day blogs have preoccupied my mind and stimulated the grey cells so much that you finally feel obliged to write on any given subject without worrying that you might be upsetting anybody. Of course you hold back from impassioned rants but then discover the amusing potential of such topical events. 

Midway through last year, a weekly Jewish creative writing group suddenly sparked off quite accidentally a sequence of thoughts that would lead joyfully into poetry. There was something inside my head that had to be expressed. Suddenly, you were surrounded with very vividly lyrical imagery. The words that dropped from you became like a natural emotion, an instinctive flowering of words and images that made me sit up and take notice. 

Today is National Poetry Reading Day which may well be overlooked by a vast majority of readers across the world because it's corny, childish, soppy and sentimental. But when did they become stereotypes associated with a vast literate world. Does poetry have to rhyme and are there any hard and fast rules? Not necessarily but you were still labouring under the misconception that poetry simply won't make any money in the publishing world. 

From that early part of summer 2021 the words and images flowed like a waterfall. But then come autumn time it suddenly occurred to me that you could also combine the poetry you'd already written with my pursuit of the Beautiful Game football. So you stumbled on a website called Football Poets and immediately transferred all of your football poetry onto the said site. Now the poems came thick and fast with a whole multitude of subjects ranging from the FA Cup, Euro 2020, my wonderful dad, Ilford Football club, my football team West Ham and many more. 

But here we are on National Poetry Day when the distant memories of those literary lions who summoned up so many vivid images and enduring reminders of nature, life and humanity are once again at the forefront of our minds if only for the day. Of course there is a place for poetry in any setting or time however hard the sceptics may think otherwise. It is a genre of writing that may never be given the kind of recognition that it undoubtedly deserves.

Across the globe there are performance poets who think nothing of stepping onto a stage whether it be a pub or club and demonstrating an expertise in the field of this somewhat underrated literary discipline. Poetry reading will be delivered in village halls, major concert venues, big festivals and atmospheric clubs around the world. The words of Keats, Wordsworth, Yeats, Wilde and Shakespeare will always have a warm place in the hearts of those who still see beauty in language and real depth in the meaning of verse. 

All across the world poetry will be celebrated and eulogised, presented and illustrated in rich detail through the medium of TV, radio, online communication and shared among millions of lifelong lovers. We will always remember the greats and legends, the ones who gave a real platform to sweet lullabies, word paintings, and children's poetry, quite possibly the most important of all poetic forms. We love poetry because it's exciting, profound, tender and sensitive. Stop for a while and think about those who breathe a genuine vibrancy and energy into our world. Poetry in motion, indeed.