Are Poets Made Or Born?

An argument for the development of poets

According to the European Journal of Educational Research,

Poetry writing is a skill consisting of composing thoughts based on circumstances, particularly of the inward circumstances(paraphrased).

Poetry comes naturally to me. Disjointed words and sentences that express a single or multilayered thought, seem to be where I excel.

Over the years, I’ve encountered at least three different definitions of poetry:

• Poetry means “dance” — -this was from a book I read long ago.
• Poetry is a literary work in which special INTENSITY is given to the expression of feelings and ideas…This is from the Bing dictionary
• Poetry is a spoken/written art form that can be abstract and expresses a single or multilayered idea–my definition.

I am not a great poet.

However, I do read it and often find myself buying books on poetry to help me with my craft. The important question is though: How come some people are just REALLY good at it while others struggle to find their way in the poeming world?

The struggle is all in the mind

If you write you are a writer.

If you read, you are a reader.

If you program computers, you are a computer programmer.

If you write or speak poetry, you are a poet.

As Morpheus tells Neo in the Matrix, “Don’t think you are, KNOW you are.”

Sometimes we believe that if we are not nationally recognized writers or getting paid loads of money from our crafts, that we just ain’t it.

That’s bull and you know it.

Sometimes even the non-poet speaks in riddles and have bouts of poetry when they sing, rap, or just have a conversation. This does not necessarily mean they are poets, but I realized over time that if I am thinking of poetry, reading and writing it, doesn’t that make me a poet?

I get praises for some of my work, but at least I am producing the written work.

Perhaps you feel you are not a poet because you are waiting on something.

Stop comparing yourself to others!

The worst thing you can do, is compare yourself to someone else. I am familiar with this landscape. I’ve compared my career, my body, even my spirituality to others and it is exhausting.

I see awesome poets posts things on Instagram that I never thought of. I’ve witnessed slam poets become gods before my ears. Their words and performances are magical to say the least.

Then there’s Rupi Kaur who capitalized on the social media wave by posting snippets of thoughts that are clear and easily understood, making her a poetic Princess of some kind.

So, yeah, there is competition out there…

If you’re competing.

Are poets made or born?

There’s a scene in the movie The Five Heartbeats when Duck says, “Someone told me that I’ll be a great writer someday when I experience great pain.”

The rest of that scene is traumatic, but the idea here is that I do believe some of us are naturally gifted in the area of expressing poetic thoughts. We know how to grab a person’s attention with certain rhymes and statements or use similes, enjambments, and metaphors to squeeze in an epiphany.

Then there are those who will be broken. Damaged. Sweating in blood and tears to come up with something amazing to write, even though they’ve never written poetry before. Even though they’ve laid poetry to rest a long time ago.

Poetry muscles can be built and strengthened. I do believe we all have natural gifts, but since poetry is expression, I honestly believe we can ALL be poets.

Thank you for reading.

P.S. There is an affiliate link in this article. This simply means if you decide to click on the link and make a purchase, I may receive a tiny fee.