- The One I Hate – A Poem by Strickland Gillilan
- If – A Poem by Rudyard Kipling
- Will – A Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- Thinking – A Poem by Walter D. Wintle
- The Inevitable – A Poem by Sarah Knowles Bolton
- A Builders’ Lesson – A Poem by John Boyle O’Reilly
- Nobility – A Poem by Alice Cary
- East Coker – A Poem by T. S. Eliot
- I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings – A Poem by Maya Angelou
- What Work Is – A Poem by Philip Levine
- The Road Not Taken – A Poem By Robert Frost
- Poetry – A Poem by Marianne Moore
- The Thought Fox – A Poem by Ted Hughes
- I Keep Six Honest Serving Men – A Poem by Rudyard Kipling
- No Leaders Please – A Poem by Charles Bukowski
Poetry is a poem by Marianne Moore, which reveals the profound sense of poetry as a place for the genuine. Can poetic reflection push us to be more authentic? In great part, this is the reason why Poetry still inspires me so much.
This is the fourth contribution to my Poetry & Management collection. Poetry has always been one of my favourite forms of expressions, probably one of the eclectic sides of my multipotentialite trait. And I will be sharing more of these over time.
Poetry
I 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 a
high-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 to
eat, 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 and
school-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 present
for 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.
Marianne Moore
Source: Others for 1919: An Anthology of the New Verse, edited by Alfred Kreymborg.
A Short Comment
Writing of Poetry in a Poem seems an exercise of self-reflection and sense-making. Poetry becomes a place for the genuine: in a world where fake news seems to reign, the idea that poetry can constitute a realm of necessary authenticity is refreshing. We do not admire what we cannot understand seems a call for simplicity and intelligibility, a prime goal for a poet, as well as for any communicator. There is not a hierarchy between forms of communication, including business documents. Each has its value, and not everything can be brought to poetry. There seems to be also a call to match the existing reality, and not suppress it from the distance of a poetic ivory tower.
Yet, the role of the poet in all its rawness is that which is genuine. A strong message on the importance of representing the reality through true emotions, as solely poetry can do. Why is this message important in a business context? Because we always have to balance our selves in the quest for displaying our authentic ego. Too often we run away from this, hiding and forgetting to portray a strong leadership vision instead.
What do you think of this poem? Add your comment below.
