Wordplay: Poetry is good for your soul! with Benjamin Myers

I love this article by the poet laureate of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Baptist University’s Benjamin Myers, in which he addresses the essential question: Why poetry? Thank you, Dr. Myers, for your wisdom, and thanks to the Tulsa World for sharing it:

When people ask me about the purpose of poetry, I am tempted to respond that the world needs as many as possible of pastimes that do no harm and that, after all, an evening spent reading poems is far less cerebrally damaging than most electronic or chemical forms of entertainment. This answer, however, is unlikely to satisfy anyone. It doesn’t even satisfy me. There must be more to this poetry business than a bit of pleasantry.

Perhaps, however, the best thing about poetry is its refusal to be useful, at least in the usual sense of the word. No one has ever been asked in a job interview if she has read “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” The answer to that question wouldn’t tell most interviewers what they want to know. When we talk about purpose, we almost always are talking about utility, practicality, and — ultimately — money, yet we know, instinctively, that there is inherent value in beauty, ingenuity, and creativity. Only a fool stands before the Grand Canyon or Michelangelo’s Sistine frescoes and asks “What is the point of that?”

Here’s the rest of the essay.