JANET DUSZAK

JANET DUSZAK
POST #1
Word Count: (1,296)
Poetry. Random and weird thoughts about poetry.
So complex, yet so beautiful.
How can we define poetry? I would like to begin by defining it in terms of what I believe it is not.
What isn’t poetry?
Poetry is not the Teen People magazine laying on my night stand. Those articles are just drama and gossip. But is gossip poetry?
Teenage girls giggling through the hallways of their high school.
He said… She said… Did you hear? And then they were like… I so totally told you so!!
Like, I'm so sure.
Poetry is not the lyrics to my favorite song, but it can be the movement performed by the dancers.
Ballet. Swing. Latin. Tango. Salsa. Hip-hop. Samba. Rumba. Jive. Tap. Waltz. Quickstep. Cha-Cha. Paso Doble. Dancing takes tremendous skill and can be a workout. But a workout is not poetry.
Yes, the art of dance is definitely poetry.
Poetry can be two words put together that don’t make sense.
Paint Banana. Shoe glasses. Television purse. Horse Monkey. Chalk diaper. Nail-polish feathers.
The more confusing, the more successful because it complicates and boggles the mind into generating unique, weird, yet interesting thoughts.
Poetry can be an acronym of your name:
J ammin’
A ffable
N utritious
E nergetic
T alkative



M ature
A ppreciative
R espectful
I nsightful
E ccentric
Poetry is looking at something and creating a story.
My mind wonders when I am at work. Particularly on Monday nights when it’s slow and I have no tables.
Look at the drunk man standing at the bar. He is a regular here and comes in just about every day. He always orders the specials and sits at the same old stool each day.
He has these specials memorized, but our specials are not poetry.
The bartender appreciates his gracious tips as he continues to make his sarcastic comments to entertain the drunk. He also cracks a few jokes hoping for someone to slip him a little extra green at the end of the day.
I wonder why the drunk man comes here every day. Where is his family and what do they think of him? Do the children wonder when Daddy is coming home? Do they wonder why they haven’t gotten their allowance lately? Why isn’t he home helping his wife put dinner on the table? He utters degrading terms in reference to his wife.
The telephone rings. And he has the nerve to stop in the middle of his sentence and say “yes dear, I will be home shortly.” He has no intent of doing so. Why is he avoiding home life?
It is Monday. He orders another Miller Lite on Draft.
He loves domestics. But a list of domestic beers is not poetry either.

Bud Lite, Bud Select, Miller Lite, Coors Lite, MGD.

A list of beer cannot be poetry.

I wonder of all the stupid moments that were executed as a result of intoxication. I wonder if for every beer consumed by this drunken individual is a sip closer to resolving repressed issues of personal distress. Has every consumed beer been responsible for a much regretted action later to follow?

A list of beer is not poetry. But each drink contains many thoughts and can tell many stories of many drunken moments of many many people.

Church. Is church a poem?
Poetry can definitely be the prayers I say in church.

But the most beautiful of all religious poetry is the act of contrition.
O MY GOD, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.
This reminds me of the first prayer my mother ever taught me. Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love, commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to rule and guard, to love and guide, AMEN.
We repeated this every night together until I learned to do it on my own. We would do it once in English. Then again in Polish.
The polish version is also a poem.
Poetry moves people. It changes the way people think. It is a unique and more elegant way to convey a message or tell a story. It can make you laugh and it can make you cry.
Jokes are funny. They make me laugh, but jokes are not poetry.
Poetry is literature. Shakespeare is poetry: There are no greater stars than those that are your eyes
Huck Finn. His story is literature, but he is not poetry nor is his story.
There are no wrong answers to poetry, the poet should practice all techniques until finding the right channel. If a limerick template is what work best, then that is what the poet should use to get his message across to the world.
Poetry is beauty.
Beauty is the bouquet arrangement I purchased for my mother on Mother’s Day. They flowers are gorgeous, but they are not poetry. The story of how much it meant to my mom to receive flowers and feel special… That is poetry.
Poetry is feeling.
Poetry is beauty. But it is not the beautiful models displayed in the window of Victoria’s secret.
Poetry is breath taking. But it is not the breath taking three stone platinum diamond engagement ring in a precious teal Tiffany’s box wrapped in pearl silk ribbon.
Poetry is the romantic speech given by a man asking for his future bride’s hand in marriage.
Poetry is the vows exchanged between the two on their wedding day.
Poetry can be two words. I DO.