Poetry as the paint for life's portrait

I haven't exactly been writing tons of poetry, but I have been reading a lot of it. The other day, my good buddy T-Bone had this as her Google handle:

"Let us remember...that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we will be less apt to destroy both." -Christian Wiman

When I read this handle, another wave of inspiration and understanding filled my feeble mind. It is so true, so beautiful and so vastly insightful. It reminded me why reading and writing poetry is so important and not merely an artsy fartsy waste of time. With this passage in mind, I read the poem entitled "The Translucent Stone." Admittedly, I didn't really like this poem, but I did appreciate it for doing exactly what the passage above described: it helped the poet inhabit his earth. It then helped me to view a plain old rock as an enchanting stone.

I am indebted to Tera for bringing my attention to the glorious nature of poetry. Poetry can take the reader in so many directions, so many that two readers can read the same poem and have definitely different interpretations of it. Such is life. No two people that live can interpret life the same way, but it's always so interesting to share those thoughts and differences.