Moonlight Musings

How Can We Save the World with Poetry?

Short, obvious answer 1:

(a) Write it. (b) Communicate it. Do (b) as widely as possible, whether that means getting published in a book, an anthology, a literary magazine, posting to a blog, or sharing on facebook or twitter – or all of the above. We can hand out poems in the street. We can put them up as posters. We can shout them out at slams.

Short, obvious answer 2:

We can't. (I mean, really? Get a grip!)

Smart rat answer:

One poem at a time.

I think it's a bit like that old story of the blind men trying to describe an elephant (one holding the tail, another the trunk, another an ear...). All the above answers are partly right, and while I wouldn't say that all of them are wrong, they don't go far enough.

When I was 40, I believed that poetry could save the world. That was when I discovered my tribe. A friend took me to a poetry reading, and I saw that I wasn't isolated or a freak – there were all these other poets, acting as if making poems was a perfectly normal thing to do. (It was before the time when we could also find members of our tribe on the internet ... before there was an internet.) 

Listening to the poems, I heard that we all wanted a better world and had things to say about that. And that was the time when there was something of a boom in Australian poetry: many flourishing 'little magazines', lots of well-attended readings with dynamic young poets (I was older than most) and even a national Poets Union newly formed. It was easy to believe our words could move the world.

I wrote a lot of political poetry then – fiery, passionate stuff as a rule. So did we all. Little of mine has lasted. Too much fire, not enough objectivity. And probably not enough craft. Some rants make wonderful poems, but a lot don't. Also the particular issues and individuals are now in the past. 

Does the finite nature of political poetry mean we shouldn't attempt it? No, I don't think so. If it is effective at the time and for the purpose written, then it serves that purpose. No matter if it then has a longer shelf life or not. 

But how many such poems do succeed in serving their purpose, even in the short term? 

In some oppressed societies, revolutionary poetry becomes the voice of the people. When poets' words are considered so dangerous that their authors are sent to Gulags, or tortured and executed, it's a pretty good indication that the poetry is having an effect. To do so, it has to go viral. Even before the internet, there were ways that happened. 

Centuries ago, pamphlets were copied and passed from hand to hand. More recently, poems telling the truth about oppressive governments were read aloud secretly behind closed doors. We think about Madelstam, Neruda, Victor Jara.… And of course, that last name reminds us of the song-writers who helped bring change. Bob Dylan's recent Nobel Prize was as much for inspiring social awareness as for the poetics (a Nobel winner in Literature must satisfy both criteria). 

Dylan's songs have lasted so far. Is that only because of the extra dimension of music? No, I think it is also because he deals in the universal rather than the specific. 'You masters of war,' he says, not specifying which ones. 'A hard rain's gonna fall' – but he doesn't say where. He doesn't have to. We hear the words and know we're all in the same boat. And so it is with the great socio-political poetic utterances (without music) which have lasted. Eliot's 'hollow men' come to mind, and Yeats's ‘rough beast’ slouching 'towards Bethlehem to be born'. And Shakespeare's 'The quality of mercy is not strained ...' or, from the same play, 'If you prick us, do we not bleed?’

At present many are worried and fearful. We certainly all hope we'll never face another Nazi Germany or a new Stalinism! But even so, certain groups feel very threatened, even in countries we are used to thinking of as Democratic. America may be the most striking, immediate example, but it's not the only one. And I wonder about our brothers and sisters in countries where persecution and civil war are already daily facts of life. I suppose that few Arab poets write in European languages, so we remain ignorant of what they may be writing against their regimes. But some pieces in English do filter through, and are startlingly brave in their truthfulness. 

Some people think poets have a duty to write about socio-political issues. I don't know about that. If I want to write about my cat instead, I jolly well will, so there. And if I want to write a poem confronting the big issues of the day, I’ll do that too – not from duty but passion. It depends what's there to be written. But perhaps all people have some duty to acquaint themselves with what is happening in the world, and to try to counter injustice where they find it? Or if it's not a duty, might it be wisdom? If we ignore injustices, will they increase?

Perhaps I asked the wrong question to start with. Maybe I should have asked, 'How can poets (rather than poetry) save the world?' That's broader in scope and immediately becomes easier to answer. If we're poets, we know how to string words together so as to have impact. We can write! There’s no reason we have to stick to poetry when it comes to calling out injustice and defending the rights of the oppressed. A lot more people read prose. 

We can write letters to editors of newspapers, and make them so good that they'll get printed. We can write to our local political representatives, and make those letters so good that if they get read they might spark some action. (And we can phone up to make sure the letters are received and do get read.) Even more direct, we can write good emails. We can write or at least sign petitions. We are probably capable of speaking fluently too, when called for. 

Caveat: I'm not sure how effective it is to post one's opinions on facebook and twitter. There is the danger of preaching to the converted (we all tend to make friends with the like-minded). And there is the other danger of alienating people who have been your friends, who turned out not to be so like-minded after all. But, if you think these social media are good platforms, who am I to discourage you? I would suggest they might be places where poetry would serve best ... depending how outspoken the poetry, I guess. I was thinking that there may be times when points are best made subtly, and poetry could be a better medium for doing that.

I am not meaning to start a lot of heated diatribes in response to this post. You will all have your views about Trump, Clinton, Obama and the rest. Some of us are already writing poems about that and posting them to our blogs. Others of us are using poetry as a way to recover from such concerns and remind ourselves of the good things in our world. I think both are valid responses. But in your comments on this post, please focus on how we might use our writing to help improve our world, rather than on particular politicians we think could use a bit of improvement. 

It seems to my perception that most poets tend to be what we in Australia call 'small-l liberal' (because our Liberal Party with a capital-L is our right-wing, Conservative party). However, not all poets hold similar views. Some may not fall neatly into any narrow category. It's not safe to make assumptions.

I have not seen any nastiness in our community, although many have been greatly distressed by the USA election result and its aftermath. I think that's remarkable. It is very unlike what I see (sometimes) on facebook, where people are so moved by fear and disillusionment that some very inflammatory things have been said. Perhaps poets can help save the world by continuing to respect people's right to freedom of thought? By continuing to behave with care and kindness towards others? 

What I see amongst us here is ongoing respect for each other regardless of differing views and beliefs, and nurturing of each other when that seems needed. We write our poems honestly, and let them speak for us as to our opinions, spiritual leanings, etc. I guess if I wanted to take issue with things said in someone else's poem, I might write one of my own to express a counter-view, and leave it at that.

So what about the poetry itself? And what about the questions I first asked? 

I don't think any of us can have an effect all by ourselves. (Dylan is exceptional. And even he needed the masses to embrace his words.) And I don't think poets combining in numbers can necessarily do it either. But I think we can be one group, among others, raising our voices for what we believe in. I think it takes all kinds of people, poets included, and that by doing our bit in our way we can help bring about the world we all want (even though we may have different ideas of how to get there). 

I think there are many things poets can do, some of them not solely restricted to poets. And if there is a chance that our poetry might have an influence for good, then yes indeed, let’s keep writing and communicating it. Yes, certainly let’s communicate it as widely as we can. And let’s make sure we write it as brilliantly, beautifully and powerfully as we can!

What do you think? Have I left out any ways we might try? Is it all hopeless anyway? Or do we have a voice? What about you personally? Are you going to write to cheer the world up? Or denounce its wrongs? Or both? (Or neither?)

Remember when you were starting out, and you thought that if just one of your poems could move just one person, it would be worth it? The chances are that there'll be a lot more than just one (poem or person). Is that still worth it, to perhaps have a smaller effect, not the whole world but a bit of it? If many other poets are doing the same, as we know they are, will it all add up to enough? And if it doesn't, is it still worth it to reach even a few?

Maybe the only person your poetry will save is yourself. How many of us write through grief, illness, depression, marriage break-ups, and even despair at the state of the world? How many of us get through such trials with the help of our writing? (Me for one!) Isn't that in itself worth doing? Or is it only a starting point?

(Don't forget to pop back and read the discussion that follows! And please feel welcome to chime in.)

Some of the pictures used are subject to copyright. The guitar picture was made available through a Creative Commons licence. The image of the earth is in the public domain.The other photos are mine.