Learning Poetry

Learning poetry, at any age, improves overall memorization. As one learns to memorize one poem after another, one learns how he best memorizes. For me, I started about a year ago, starting with short rhyming, rhythmic poems. I used a microphone and recorded them on my laptop, then onto CD. I listened to them on my job commute. I have memorized about 15 good poems, of varying lengths, since, and have enjoyed teaching them to our children.
Children can learn faster, of course, because they’re not old, tired and inundated with information, like we adults are. They have fresh, insightful, eager minds, not cynical, skeptical and worn-out ones.
I have come to understand much more about poetry, and that understanding has increased my appreciation of how poems and poets work.
A Poet is not just limited to doing professional work. They are from all different backgrounds.Legacy -- I have made some CDs of poetry, with my voice, for our children. I am not a great speaker or orator, but that is not my goal. I know how endearing it is to hear my parents’ voices. And I wish I had something to listen to in order to hear their voices from when they were young. My children now have that – I know they will feel that way. I am still young, but each year I hope to leave a little bit more. If God chooses to bring me home while my children are still very young, then they have a little something. If He chooses to let me stay for a long time, then my children will have that much more to keep and let their children and grandchildren hear how their Grandfather sounded. They won’t say that I’m an impressive stage presence, but it might instill each generation to keep up the tradition.