Poetry and Post 9/11 Culture

I find arguments supporting both the assertion that poetry is well-suited to represent post 9/11 culture, and that it is not. On the one hand poetry is one of the most highly individual and introspective forms of writing. Every poet writes in a different style, using particular forms of diction, rhythm and syntax. Every poem is a creative effort by one person to represent to others something from within. Each poet chooses which devices, (hyperbole, metaphor, etc...) to employ.

In contrast, the average American in this post 9/11 age has a highly un-personal relationship with his/her Government. We are all somewhat disenfranchised. From the beginning The Bush Administration has promoted a practically non-existent domestic social policy. Issues that matter to average Americans (i.e., healthcare, minimum wage, Medicare, federal pension guarantees) have been pushed to the sidelines. Poetry is highly individual and introspective, but it seems as if the government's policies are not guided at all by what the average American says he needs. The Bush administration has astonished many in its aversion to open itself up to public criticism and concern over the wars in Iraq, and Afghanistan. The opinions of dissidents within the Bush administration (such as Colin Powell, and Richard Clarke), as well as those from the outside has consistently been disregarded by those in power. So it seems as though poetry may have little or no effect of giving the average individual any sense of political power. To answer the 'hard-drinking lyricists' question of whether writing a poem will necessarily "help", it may seem as if the answer is no.

On the other hand poetry may help people like the 'hard-drinking lyricist' escape reality in a more productive way than drinking can. Whether reading poetry or writing it, it seems as though the average American could benefit from spending time on some sort of creative activity away from the deluge of color-coded threat warnings we see and hear on a daily basis.