With her characteristic wit and precision, Marianne Moore begins with a startling admission: "I too, dislike it." This opening gambit, far from being mere provocation, serves as an invitation to engage with the poem's deeper truths.

"Poetry" is a testament to the enduring power of the literary imagination. It challenges us to read with "perfect contempt" – not out of disdain, but with the keen discernment that allows us to separate the wheat from the chaff, the genuine from the derivative. In doing so, Moore has crafted a work that not only speaks about poetry but embodies its highest aspirations.

Below the poem is a writing exercise inspired by Ms. Moore’s piece. If you try it, share your poem in the comments!

Poetryby Marianne MooreText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedI too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond all this fiddle. Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers that there is in it after all, a place for the genuine. Hands that can grasp, eyes that can dilate, hair that can rise if it must, these things are important not because ahigh-sounding interpretation can be put upon them but because they are useful; when they become so derivative as to become unintelligible, the same thing may be said for all of us—that we do not admire what we cannot understand. The bat, holding on upside down or in quest of something toeat, elephants pushing, a wild horse taking a roll, a tireless wolf under a tree, the immovable critic twinkling his skin like a horse that feels a flea, the base— ball fan, the statistician—case after case could be cited did one wish it; nor is it valid to discriminate against “business documents andschool-books”; all these phenomena are important. One must make a distinction however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry, nor till the autocrats among us can be “literalists of the imagination”—above insolence and triviality and can presentfor inspection, imaginary gardens with real toads in them, shall we have it. In the meantime, if you demand on the one hand, in defiance of their opinion— the raw material of poetry in all its rawness, and that which is on the other hand, genuine, then you are interested in poetry.The Genuine in the Ordinary: A Poetry Writing ExerciseObjective:

To create a poem that finds "a place for the genuine" in everyday objects or experiences, while challenging conventional poetic language.

Steps:

Choose Your "Dislike":
Begin your poem with a statement of dislike for something ordinary (e.g., "I, too, dislike alarm clocks").

List the Mundane:
Write down 5-7 everyday objects or experiences that might seem unpoetic (e.g., grocery lists, traffic jams, smartphone notifications).

Find the Genuine:
For each item on your list, identify something genuine or authentic about it. What makes it "useful" or important beyond surface appearances?

Create Unexpected Imagery:
Develop at least two unusual or surprising images related to your chosen items (think Moore's "imaginary gardens with real toads").

Incorporate Contradiction:
Include at least one paradoxical statement in your poem (e.g., "Reading it with perfect contempt, one discovers...").

Challenge Poetic Convention:
Experiment with unconventional line breaks, punctuation, or formatting to mirror Moore's style.

Conclude with Insight:
End your poem with a statement about the nature of poetry or art itself, inspired by Moore's final lines.

What did you come up with?