Poetry has changed… yes, it has! If you have been an ardent reader of poetry, in English or in any other language, you may have noticed that recent trends in poetry are being dictated (or, politely putting, suggested) by Instagram – modern poets are active there more than anywhere else. So, what are we having now? We are having a platform where anyone can put a random tree in the background and a few random lines (mostly putting carefully picked sensitive words) and call himself or herself a poet. This is it… while I am not objecting to anybody calling to be a poet, I am objecting to the loosening ends called poetic tact.
On Goodreads, recent bestsellers in poetry are mostly composed by Instagram poets. Out of curiosity, I read a few of those and let me tell you, quite frankly, I could not find any poetic depth, poetic beauty or even poetry in those works. It may be anything but poetry! However, they have followers who love their rumble, jumble and random lines. And, we cannot ignore that the poetic taste has changed because of many events. So, if they are writing something that their readers like, no one should have objections – I completely agree!
Nevertheless, the poetic sense that I have developed might bar me from liking the poems written these days. No one can object to anybody writing anything; no one, by the same yardstick, should have problems with me liking something or just disliking something. I remember the epic opening line by John Keats in his failed attempt called Endymion:
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever”
Modern Instagram poets have, perhaps, failed to grasp the basic motifs of poetry. They only write what they want or what their readers want. However, they seldom get to the purpose of poetry argument and I don’t expect them to reach there anytime sooner. Modern poetry seems to have been caught between readers and poets and the text in-between. It has lost the transcendental value. The ones who are popular today will be forgotten next year as a new profile rises to fame. It will be repeated – forever loop. Likes of Wordsworth, Kalidasa, Ved Vyas, Keats, Eliot… they will remain! Forever!
And my two-bits to the poets who are doing their best and also keeping the traditional poetry alive, keep your attempts green! The readers, howsoever modern or old, will certainly know the values that poetry brings. It might not be today, it will certainly be tomorrow. I will try to bring to the attention of readers some of the most wonderful handles on these platforms that bring wonderful poetry with values to the readers. Also, to those who are producing contemporary poetry for their excellent reader base, I would like to request them to bring something powerful, expressive and loaded with values of traditional poetry to their readers. They have readers. The should have poetry as well!
By Amit for Egpistic Readers
