How I Feel About Poetry

I was right in the middle of the line.  My eighth grade Language Arts teacher had asked to line up according to our feelings about poetry.  "Passionate poets need to stand near the door," she explained, "If you hate it, position yourself along the cabinets."  Completely bewildered, I walked aimlessly about for a few seconds while the classroom became a writhing mass of students all fighting for the spot they wanted.  Just as the chaos began to die down, I quickly slid between two people near the center of the line.  My teacher assured us that we would all be standing near the door by the end of the semester.  Despite her promise, my spot in line settled comfortably in the middle until Poetry Out Loud.
 

When Mrs. Gilman told us we had to memorize a poem and recite it to the class, I was only slightly unhappy.  But when I saw the criteria and read the 24 line minimum, I was horrified.  It wasn't until I began practicing that I warmed up to the idea.  I chose to learn Solitude by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.  Memorizing and reciting poetry gave me a chance to impersonate someone else and forget about the stress of school and my other homework.  When the day arrived that we were supposed to present, I got nervous.  I didn't want to forget my poem and look like I hadn't tried...But I didn't want to try too hard and look like an idiot in front of my friends either!  I had a dilemma.  As soon as I got on the little makeshift stage, however, I had fun with it.  I lost myself in the words and just pretended I was in my living room again, practicing with my dad.  When I did well, I loved it!  When I hear the word 'poetry' mentioned, it sparks excitement and also nervousness.  The nervousness is because I know that writing poetry requires pouring onto paper my secret thoughts and feelings which scares me.