By Skyler Belmonte, Staff Reporter
As one can dance to the beats and sweet melodies of a song, hips can also sway and feet can tap along to the rhythm of a poem. My alias, The Blindfolded Poet, is how I introduce myself when performing poetry. I prefer my audience to seek truth and vulnerability through my words than in my eyes – as the eyes reveal secrets that the mouth cannot. Poetry carries my heavy burdens so my heart and mind do not have to. If more people began at an early age indulging and exploring poetry, they could discover a form of therapy and an effective way to cope with their emotions.
Poetry matters to me because it is a reflection of the woman I once was, who I am, and who I dream to be. My poems are mirrors into my pain, truths, and destinies. It brings me clarity, peace and has taught me forgiveness. Behind my alias, I am a character that my audience can experience through their own thoughts if they close their eyes and allow my words to whisper to their soul. Poetry activates our five senses through words – we can see raindrops splashing on a freshly bloomed rose, hear a heart break as if glass shattered, smell a fresh garden, taste the sweetest kiss, and touch the goosebumps on our skin as we get lost in an erotic poem.
Poetry should matter to you because it can make you feel without touch, cry without pain, laugh without telling a joke, and teach you without manipulation. Poetry matters.
I surrendered myself to the art of poetry and I drowned my sorrows in my journals. Writing saved my life. If one was to read my poems, they will read of a girl who begged and fought to be loved. They will discover and feel the pain engraved into my words that stem from bruises painted on my body. They will feel the waves of despair crashing onto them from every tear I wept as I wrote the poem. Poetry matters to me.
“There’s a reason poets often say, ‘Poetry saved my life,’ for often the blank page is the only one listening to the soul’s suffering, the only one registering the story completely, the only one receiving all softly and without condemnation,” poet Clarissa Pinkola Estés said.
Poetry is liberating, romantic, dark, and twisted, but yet so fragile and soft. In a world bonded together by ignorance, selfishness, and lust, poetry has the ability to shine warmth in the coldest rooms. Poetry matters to me and it could also matter to you. Join me in celebrating National Poetry Month by reading poems by some of my favorite poets, Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes, and if you are feeling spontaneous, try writing your own short poem. Putting pen to paper may spark a fire inside of you that you never knew existed.
