Came across this website and I thought it was a good read about some modern poets brought to you by a Professor in Vermont: Modern Poetry

I found his discussion of why poetry is important compelling. And for obvious reasons I have a vested interest in those who believe poetry to be important.

Poetry is important to me because it can often express emotions that seem inexpressible, or that might need to be expressed but are kept secret because of fear of their expression. It is also important to me because of its relationship to music. If I hadn't begun writing poetry again I would never have been able to have the courage to write lyrics for the songs that my husband had been writing. We've been together 6 years and have only over the past year attempted to write songs. Last night we completed a 9th song. We have ideas brewing for the 10th, 11th and 12th as well. Jeremy believes this to be quite an accomplishment especially when comparing it to the band he was in. They called themselves "Halo" and had some sort of album with one truly completed song, got an in to submit it to a producer, but received feedback that the songs were redundant. He spent years with the two guitarists of the band, jamming, but found it nearly impossible to actually write songs. So in this partnership, where we seem to be able to write a song in about two nights with only a couple of hours of work time after I get home from my job, sacrificing sleep to do so, he feels that we have the potential to become a true music producing "band." If we could find more time we would probably already have an album produced- anyone want to babysit?

I have heard people say that my lyrics are deep, and this is in direct relationship to the fact that I write poetry. Had I merely sat down to write lyrics without any background in writing poetry the songs would probably have a lot of "baby, yeah, yeah, yeah" sorts of parts. Luckily, as a poet first, and lyricist second, I attempt to do something with lyrics. Yes, entertainment is definitely part of the point of both poetry and song-writing, but I do want to take people on some kind of journey, make sure that something is felt, something maybe learned or discovered, and give the listener/reader time to reflect. And though I do want to gain a readership/listeners of what is produced, neither I nor Jeremy are trying to cater to any particular group. We just do what we do. And so far we are enjoying the journey...