9 Poems for People Who Don't Like Poetry

And a heaping plate of Meatballs

Oct 15, 2024

The way poetry splits people fascinates me.

By splits I mean both what poetry does to people’s brains and feels, but also the way, when you say ‘Poetry,’ some people roll their eyes, some people gaze fondly into the middle distance, and some people even put their noses in the air, wondering if you actually know what poetry means.

Basically, there’s not a lot of neutral reaction to poetry.

And honestly, not just within groups, but within a single person. I myself am very split on poetry. If I’m being entirely honest, I’d say 85% of poetry makes me want to roll my eyes and chuck the poem over my shoulder, and 15% makes me want to roll around in the page and leaves me jaw-dropped at the poet’s brilliance. That 15% include some of my favorite words ever written.

If poetry is on one end of what many might consider an accessibility spectrum, then the other end might be television. (Although, short form video like TikToks and Reels are probably even further towards the “accessible.”)

Well, I refuse to accept this premise. Poetry is both accessible and not, and so is TV (and short form video. Truly, what the heck is skibidi toilet I have tried to understand. Definitely not accessible.)

With all this in mind, I’m starting a new project that I got the idea for years ago, the first time I watched through M*A*S*H* and thought to myself, you could write entire poems using just lines from these episodes. Introducing…

Meatball Poetry is a new newsletter: poetry for people who watch too much television, plus behind-the-scenes resources for poets who can quote old movies front-to-back.

What we’re going to be doing there is simple:

Weekly poems written entirely using lines from episodes of television, movies, etc.

Honestly, I hope that sounds as fun to you as it does to me.

This idea of writing poems using lines from other things isn’t new. In fact there’s a format term for it: a cento. Although centos are traditionally new poems using bits and lines from old poems, we’re going to be doing the same thing, except with movies and television.

You can go HERE to find out more about this project, and more about what we’re doign to be doing. If you subscribe, you’ll get a bonus meatball poem written entirely with lines from the pilot episode of Cheers!

In addition to a weekly meatball poem, Meatball Poetry will also include spotlighted poems from classic and modern poets that I love. Poems that are part of that 15% glorious percent, and that I think even those of us with television rotted brains can understand, appreciate, and be in awe of. (Did I end that sentence with a preposition because of television??)

But today, here at the Smorgasbord, I thought we could also look at some of that special poetry. Poems for people who might think they don’t like poetry, but who maybe just haven’t discovered the myriad flavors that poetry has to offer, and the one particular flavor that hits them just right. I’m gonna try and offer up some of those best flavors today, at least the ones that I personally love.

You’ll see a couple familiar names here. In particular, Billy Collins and Mary Oliver, who for me are sort of the mama and the papa of “accessible” poetry (although I wish I could think of a better word for what I mean, because the word ‘accessible’ can sometimes get condescending reactions. But our point here is to ignore that hoity-toitiness.) Then hopefully you’ll find some new goodies too.

A regular diet of good poetry can make a world of difference.

So, here we go! Check these out, and make sure you also subscribe to Meatball Poetry for more weekly poetry goodness!