Making Poetry Popular

Stephan,

I can appreciate the need to want to bring a work of depth to the forefront.  I don't really know what to say....after that first sentence.  I can appreciate the idea.

But to get back onto 'topic',

How to market/how to make society 'smarter'/how to 'bring back great poetry,' would require a heck of a lot.

A) Encouragement of good poetry, discussion, examination, writing.  This includes learning the history all the way from B.C to Present day. 

B) Teachers who love the craft, and thus can provide that passion to the children.  Maybe not passion, the latin Pati meaning to suffer...actually yeah, passion.  Society needs to learn how to suffer great art.  As far as I'm concerned there's an abundance of publishers willing and ready to publish any crap that hits the page, and because of this overflow, I think it easier, for this generation of poets to miss out on the suffering...which here comes another generalization, makes a greater writer.  I'm talking 'bout teaching meter in Elementary schools. 

C) Throw a way your televisions, radios, and computers.

D) Listen more.

E) Pay less attention to Aesthetic qualities, though they do serve a purpose, they are always changing with the time.

F) Protest.  Get off your ass.  Go to colleges, pick a cookie cutter poet, a well established cookie cutter poet, and embarass him or her, whether that be an essay on why they are shitty, or by marching around with signs...do it...do something.  Hallmark and Jingles aren't poetry, but, neither is the most of the bullshit that is supported by the Academia.  (Billy Collins, Donald Hall, ect...)

G) And this is the most important to me at least, it is okay to use history as a way to examine the past, but never...never....fall into the habit of using the past to justify the present.  Perhaps things have become this way because we've paid to much to what other's think, because we've turned famous essayist, poets, critiques, into unicorns, and because of this we've lost sight of the greatest thing an individual can posses, and that is their voice.  But I'm not sure if I'm wording this correctly.  What I mean at the very core, is trust the past, but don't turn it into an icon. 

H) Write. Read. Write. Read.

I) Provide schools with etymological dicitonaries.