Reminder: Poetry is necessary

It hit me anew today how necessary poetry is. On my commute home after a busy day, I listened to the poem, ‘Bob Ross Paints Your Portrait’ read by American poet, Terrance Hayes, on The Paris Review podcast.

One of my favourite things about poetry is its unpredictability. I am prepared to be moved, but never know when it will happen, or by what.

In this poem, which begins with

Today, we’re going to get to work on the details of your expression

it was the line

maybe there’s a stretch of love that sort of graduates into nothing

Whoo! Tears sprang to my eyes. I love the mystery of that reaction, the way Hayes’ words touched my soul so deeply, so instantly.

In that moment, something else took me over. It’s a feeling unique to the experience of poetry. It might be some other line that will move you. I wonder which one?

Hayes says watching Bob Ross painting soothes his anxiety. If you’ve never watched the beloved painter, who filmed hundreds of episodes of The Joy of Painting for American television, you’ll soon understand Hayes’ point of view, and his inspiration for ‘Bob Ross Paints Your Portrait’. Its construction is a tribute to the way Ross addresses his pupils through the screen, with gentle encouragement, assuring them of their capability to paint a canvas. Hayes in this poem reprises the role of Ross as teacher, and chooses to paint only with black.

Here are some more lovely lines from Hayes:

I would just love to hear from you

You have all kinds of beautiful depths and layers and shapes of black

…

The only pressure is yours; take your time

Soon the darkness stands back from you a little

Can you feel yourself emerge as you fall backward?

 Listening to Hayes recite his own poem is a delight, even more beautiful than reading the words on the page would have been. I found that 9-minute audio experience soothing, the perfect salve for a Friday commute home.