Poetry Matters Too
February 25, 2014
I know I’m mainly focusing on Communism here, but poetry is a lot like Gorbachev, because no one really cares what either one is doing in 2014. So when prompted to analyze a personal narrative, I knew Kelsey Rakes-Jaggers was my girl.
I originally wanted to focus on her blog, but quickly realized I could analyze an actual poem of hers, since most of her poetry is autobiographical and personal.
Kelsey Rakes-Jaggers has often discussed her mental illnesses in both her blog and her poetry over the years, and I think this is a reflection of that. However, I also really think this piece is relatable. Everyone can be overly critical of themselves, and when you’re alone with your own thoughts you think of one bad quality and spiral downward into “EVERYTHING ABOUT ME IS TERRIBLE.” Otherwise, it’s hard to summarize this piece. I think it really speaks for itself. It is about emotion, and it is about humanity. It won’t change a nation or inspire a rebellion, but I think it could comfort a reader and really leave them thinking. Kelsey Rakes has often asked, “is happiness just the absence of sadness?”
Rakes’s poetry doesn’t speak about any historical events in this poem. It’s not a fact. It doesn’t rhyme, she never uses capital letters (in any poems) and it doesn’t even have stanzas. Nevertheless, this is postmodern poetry. The work she is having published is an extension of models enforced by Charles Bukowski and much of Leonard Cohen, but she is the next generation. Poetry today isn’t about counting syllables; Robert Frost was great, but it’s time we moved on.
Most importantly, Rakes believes in online publishing, often through several mediums. The example above was originally published on Instgram, but she also Tweeted it out, published it on Tumblr, and features it in on DeviantArt and both of her blogs. She has a very large online following.
Today we’re studying propaganda posters and political newspapers to learn about history. In twenty years, we will be studying Twitter feeds and blogs. Having that sort of information at our fingertips for free is something Kelsey Rakes-Jaggers really supports, and I think it’s a fascinating way to learn how our history is changing right before our eyes.