job prescription

will poetry change the world? no one asks
this about football, the thrill of watching or
playing. we get that nurses & doctors are
healers. no question that rabbis, priests, &

imams guide individuals & groups through
spiritual thickets. we don’t tell cooks to put
down their wooden spoons & go make a real
difference instead of a real soufflé. teachers

are honored for the learning they impart. so
let poets keep on exciting passion in them-
selves & others. don’t discourage us from our
efforts to diagnose the human heart or create

trail markers for those coming behind us on
this journey. trust me when i say that poetry
heals, guides, feeds, & enlivens. poetry may
not change the world, but might change you.

Copyright © 2024 by Evie Shockley. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on October 17, 2024, by the Academy of American Poets.

Subscribe to the Poem-a-Day Podcast 

  

“This poem offers my briefest, clearest response to anyone who doesn’t yet see the value of poetry. I could say a lot more about it (and I have, many times over the years). But instead of spending more time defending poetry, I’ll be reading, hearing, writing, and performing—that is, enjoying it.”
—Evie Shockley