Instagram(Insta) bred
poets have popularized a contemporary form of poetry which often casts a shadow
on the suitability of the content being deemed as ‘poetry’
Poetic literature under the Indian school curriculum,
acquainted the students to world renowned poetic geniuses. Robert Frost, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William
Wordsworth, Vikram Seth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, are just a few that I
remember from the top of my head. Their
poems were on different themes, but they all very obviously belonged to the
realm of poetry. They were often not
easy to comprehend and suggested a need for familiarity with the author’s
written style to truly understand the context.
The poets audaciously used poetic license to create the story they
wanted to tell. Intensity of emotion
that would otherwise require several pages to fully unravel, were brilliantly
captured in a few lines. To my surprise,
the popular poets I discovered on Insta
were far from this known concept of poetry.
On a positive note I found Insta
poems interesting and engaging. I also
found them empathetic and inspiring.
However, I couldn’t ignore the rudimentary nature of the poems. Their expression of thought seemed to peak at
a very basic level, like a song on a piano with limited chords. Credit where credit is due, the poems don’t
make it a challenge to unbox the message and instead try to effectively convey
the point. However, for some key reasons
that I’ll move on to, the poems have traded off the charm of poetry for easier
depiction of thought. The poems seldom
paint a picture, they rather describe it.
Metaphors, imagery and verse are rarely reflected in the poems; they are
more like a message broken down in multiple lines. Inevitably, the simplicity of this form of
‘poetry’ makes it seem doable. In part, that
is good news as it provides a kickstart platform for amateur poets to
experiment with their writing style but unfortunately, it comes at a cost. The cost being that the meaning of poetry is
lost on many since its more about concisely conveying a message rather than
weaving a story to convey the message.
A common theme across most poems is love, a topic which easily draws empathy and subsequently drives
the follower count. Poems tend to be
driven solely from personal experiences and don’t challenge the imagination. Poetry
that is heartfelt or deep need not involve a first-person experience. To elaborate, I take the example of Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a famous
poem that gave detailed account of sailors at sea that tempted fate by engaging
in condemnable actions. Apparently, the
idea was inspired by the poet’s friend’s dream of a ‘skeleton ship’. Some also say that the poet had never sailed
at sea and yet was able to beautifully illustrate the story by diving into his
imagination. Simply put, it wouldn’t be
called ‘creative writing’ if imagination didn’t play a role.
The other peculiar feature of Insta poems is the confusion between a poem, a quote and a short
story. I am not saying that long poems
conform to the rules of poetry but Insta
poetry seems to be short mainly due to a content driven mindset that the app
thrives on. People feel a need to
constantly post content to remain in the public eye and maintain popularity. A pressure to publish posts even when the
creativity well is dry, leads to poetry transforming into epigrams which are at
best self-quoted quotes and at worst a generic comment. Epigrams are essentially satirical or clever
in nature; they need wit to be properly written and hence would also be
typically difficult to type out at the drop of a hat.
My two cents on the subject may sound grouchy but it’s because
a lot of trending poets out there were Insta
born and being termed as ‘poets’ places them near the ranks of the classic
poets, a truly big responsibility. Fortunately,
I have come across interview accounts of some popular poets talking about taking
a literature class or picking up a book of poems to learn more about poetry ‘in
situ’. I am not saying you need a how-to-guide
to write poetry but having a thirst to better it would help sustain quality
poetry by these new age poets. Otherwise,
in some cases, the misguided popularity could lull them into believing that
every thought that stumbles upon their mind is worth publishing. Indeed, these poets are exploring a new form
of poetry which is probably best suited for today’s hurried world where several
exabytes of content are generated each day, but their success may usher in an
era where a basic message knotted in some words, starts being deemed as poetry.
