Elise Skidmore

There are a lot of people 
who say they don't like poetry,
but I don't see how that can be true.
We are raised on nursery rhymes
and storybooks that follow patterns.
People rarely claim not to like music,
but as long as there is music,
there will be lyrics, 
and what are lyrics but a form of poetry?
I understand tastes differ 
and some poems are harder to like than others,
but I really don't understand the general
fear and loathing of poetry.
It's been a part of me for as long as I can remember.
I am no Shakespeare, Eliot, or St. Vincent Millay;
I doubt anyone will ever commit my words to memory,
or even remember a few favored lines once I am gone
and my presence no longer reminds them
that I spent my life writing poetry. 
There is no monetary gain for a poet;
poetry books never make bestseller lists.
It's just something that I do.
For better or worse, 
it's how I look at the world.
If I'm lucky my words
might bring a smile on a cloudy day,
comfort to a weary heart,
or the knowledge we are not alone
in a world that seems to have gone mad.
Step into the sunshine
and listen to the music 
of the clouds dancing in the breeze,
then tell me you don't like poetry.

~Elise Skidmore ©2021