Experience With Poetry

     Since I was a young child, I have loved poetry. I don't remember my very first experience with poetry, but I never remember not enjoying it. I started reading Shel Silverstein's poetry when I first learned to read and from then on was hooked. My dad purchased three of his poem books for my siblings and I. I would sit on his lap in a huge arm chair and giggle as he read aloud rhyming tales of deep-sea monsters and mischievous little children. My dad noticed my love for poetry and gave me a book of Robert Frost poems at the age of ten. While burying myself in this book I soon discovered another side of poetry, a side that didn't involve children's rhymes. I developed an passion for words and trying to unearth the deeper meaning in poems.
     In sixth grade, we did a poetry unit in my class. In this unit I was introduced to a multitude of emotions expressed through the words in a poem. We read many poems by Edgar Allen Poe and I recognized how specific word choice can convey such passionate emotions. I think one of my favorite parts of poetry is how it forces you to stop and really think about it. I love the imagery and figurative language used to describe thind. The beauty of poetry is that it is somewhat hazy in meaning yet can express such passion. At this point, I am still in love with poetry and am excited to learn how to better decode its hidden meanings.