Poetry is All That Matters

e.e. Cummings once said writing poetry "is the only thing that matters." Strong words, and on the surface entirely false. Poetry is fine and all, but I suppose famine and war and national governance also matter at least a little?

He was not saying simply that the rest of the human experience is inconsequential, but that the rest of the problems and solutions we humans conjure up, are the effect whereas poetry (I would say art/literature more generally) is the cause.

This is proven true time and again throughout human history. Humans had a dream to fly; that was the burning dilemma and eventually the Wright brothers found a solution. More somberly, the creation of the first atomic bomb was the result, yes, of assiduous study by brilliant people - but also of sudden epiphany (see here for more on that story).

The questions of our age include whether mankind will colonize Mars, get replaced by artificial intelligence, or both. Neither outcome, nor any remarkable advancement whatsoever, is likely to occur without a vision first inhabiting the mind of the creator/inventor/entrepreneur before it can find footing in reality.

But what impels humans to action in the first place? You might rightly answer that necessity is the mother of invention, and it's true, but not always. Necessity can leave many stillbirths as well. The poor and uneducated may have a veritable necessity to improve their life prospects, but the solution is not so easy. Slaves have a necessity of freedom, but may not fathom how to claim it.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the perception of necessity is the mother of invention. Necessity is not objectively defined. It is what you personally feel desperate for. It is what you personally must have at any cost.

An old anecdote about the philosopher Socrates says that when a disciple of his asked how to obtain wisdom, Socrates plunged the boy under water and held him there long enough for him to feel the fear of drowning. When he took the boy out, Socrates asked him what he wanted most in that moment. "Air," the boy replied, to which Socrates said that when you desire wisdom like you desired air in that moment, you will have it.

Air was the boy's necessity at that time, and wisdom must become that essential to be grasped.

This ties into a recurring theme in my blog; growth doesn't happen without circumstance forcing it to happen. The lucky, or unlucky, part of this for humans is that we have the ability to cultivate deep and desperate needs within ourselves. While we in fact only need nourishment and shelter to survive, we feel that we need so much more to live. We need to be clothed, we need to have a community, we need to be loved. I'm not saying these aren't legitimate needs, but that they are needs because of what we feel and not because they are essential to sustain life.

Humans are also unique in our ability to rearrange Maslow’s hierarchy of needs in our minds and put, for example, a desire for self esteem higher than our basic needs of sleep and food - we humans can and do, unfortunately, work ourselves to death while ignoring sleep, or starve ourselves to death in the throes of anorexia.

Environmental factors and mental illness can trigger such tragedies, but they are only able to be triggered at all because of our penchant for imagination; our indomitable minds which can supersede all else (Yes, I know that animals are capable of depression etc. as well but I hope we can agree that humans are far more refined at this art).

Having laid this frightening groundwork, let me return to my original point: humans can create needs that feel and behave, psychologically, like legitimate necessities regardless of whether they are. Conversely, humans can not feel any particular necessity for needs which are objectively essential, even for survival.

This is where art and literature come in. Many of us read books or watched movies about humans going to Mars, but few of us made that fantastical tale our singular life's vision like Elon Musk. These stories struck a chord with him in a profound way. Others among us read and watched war stories before pursuing a military career.

Some found the courage to continue their struggle through music. Some pieced together a unified vision from different sources of inspiration. Some, like me, find the act of creating these wells of human hope and inertia to be an inspiration in itself.

The few sayings, songs, proverbs, or poems we internalize most deeply go on to define our life decisions.

When tragedy strikes, what sets you on course again? Do you internalize defeat, "to be or not to be - that is the question," or do you internalize hope, "every day is a new opportunity"?

At the end of your rope, something outside of you must be held onto like a life raft; you are the "noiseless, patient spider" seeking connection in this world.

Do you think that "to heir is human, but forgiveness is divine?" Or do you believe in "an eye for an eye?" The answer will be highly consequential for your personal life.

And what happens when not just you, but many other people feel inspiration for the same quip? When large numbers of people found inspiration in the mantra "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs," one man's slim manifesto lit the fires of war and revolution in Russia, China, Vietnam, Cuba, Cambodia, etc.

This is why the pen truly is mightier than the sword. Because a single pen can write into assembly entire nations' worth of swords. The written, spoken, and implied word has greater potential for good and evil than any other force known to man.

And this is why poetry is "the only thing that matters."

#poetry #eecummings #artandpoetry #poetrycanchangeyourlife #poetryislife