Why is poetry important (or not)?

I may not be able to relate to every art form and every artist’s rendering thereof, but I think all arts are absolutely vital. I don’t think of them as a predictor of changes so much as different perspectives of an infinitely beveled mirror reflecting what IS.

The arts provide release, expression, exposure, inspiration, viewpoints, and portrayals and interpretations of all aspects of society, to name just a few. They are a vehicle of communication that may use words or not, one form being no bigger in importance than another. A person may regard them as luxuries, practical tools in a person’s search for meaning in life, thorns in one’s side.

The arts, and poetry in particular, are not typically valued economically, and yet they are intrinsically tied in with economics. Take the largest, most thriving companies and look at their promotional and marketing materials. There is art. There is writing. They are expressed in ways that transcend the ordinary and communicate a mission, a product, a service.

Look at PSAs and documentaries that educate you, pull at your heartstrings or even turn you off. There was an arrangement of sight and sound and word and pace – in total, a form of art – that elicited that response or reaction.

What else is there to say, but, “Viva los artes!”