I enjoy Kristen Hoggatt’s “Ask a Poet” column at The Smart Set, an online revival of the old magazine. One can dive in anywhere and be entertained and enlightened by her approach to life through poetry.
The current question someone has asked the poet is timely, coming straight from the headlines. More, it’s relevant to Hoggatt’s personal life, as she relates. Words matter, she reminds us, and convincingly illustrates this conviction with an Emily Dickinson poem.
(You can learn more about Hoggatt and how poetry saved her life here.)
I’m starting to think we need poets more than anything right now. Poets are the ones thinking critically. Poets also are the ones who can express their thoughts. Maybe we should take a fresh look at poets and poetry. I think it’s time for me to re-read the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth and Blake said poets were prophets.