Do you remember studying poetry in school? Do you cringe?  I think two activities have added to our negative feelings about poetry: the deconstruction exercises we do/have done in school where we are asked to take a perfectly crafted and evocative poem, pull it apart, and point out every poetic device so that we can “interpret” it. And then our understanding of the poem is judged by some little understood yardstick. Often, we are required to bare our souls in the writing and sharing of a poem. 

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