Why Poetry is Essential, and Where to Find It in NYC
We will consume many words in our lifetime. Whether reading them on the page, hearing them as wavelengths through the air, or creating them from scratch… there are too many to truly digest them all. Still, some words will have the ability to stitch their way into our mental fabric. We might not ‘remember’ them per se, but we can never forget them. Audre Lorde’s Poetry is Not a Luxury is that to me. If you have not read it, I suggest you do. Give it time. Hold it close.
Her work is infinitely fruitful, but the reason I’m bringing it up today, in particular, is this little gem:
For within structures defined by profit, by linear power, by institutional dehumanization, our feelings were not meant to survive. Kept around as unavoidable adjuncts or pleasant pastimes, feelings were meant to kneel to thought as we were meant to kneel to men. But women have survived. As poets. And there are no new pains. We have felt them all already. We have hidden that fact in the same place where we have hidden our power. They lie in our dreams, and it is our dreams that point the way to freedom. They are made realizable through our poems that give us the strength and courage to see, to feel, to speak, and to dare.
Beautiful, isn’t it? Poetry is a necessity because it is the vehicle on which to realize dreams and feelings in rigid, hurtful social structures of logic/reason/content/institution (think about it– this dates as far back as Plato’s Republic… and probably further, idk). Arts of this kind are powerful tools- essential even- in the survival of feelings, freedoms, and change.
So this is me calling in the poets and calling on the rest of us to hold poetry in magic regards. If Socrates banished poets from the city because he believes them to be “dangerous and impure”, I’d like to invite them for nearly the same reasons. I’d only ask: dangerous to what? And edit to: imperfect maybe, challenging yes, but not impure. No– the purest. And if Plato dismissed poetry as “mimesis” because it imitates the irrational, colorful, impulsive part of the soul, or ‘waters the passions’ rather than drying them up… well, I’d call in the poets for the exact same reason. No notes.
I’d like to share some places- some magical places- to go in New York City to engage with the beautiful art people create from words and perhaps to go ‘water the passions’ (sry, Plato):
The Nuyorican
236 E 3rd St, New York, NY
I went here for the first time last night and was truly so moved. The place has been open for 50 years. You can feel the magic when you walk in and with each spoken word poem that takes the stage. It gets you in that gooey spot.
Under Saint Marks
94 St Marks Pl, New York, NY
Also dating back to the 70s and with that energy of creative magic and momentum that you can feel remaining in the walls. It’s small, red velvet chairs, little snacks, and bevs bar, and the performance. It’s all you need and somehow still manages to exceed expectations.
KGB Bar
85 E 4th St, New York, NY
As long as we’re talking literary history, this one should make the list. It’s an iconic space, and also a fun one IMO. Check out the Red Room while you’re there.
Great Places To Shop Poetry Books:
Berl’s Poetry Shop in DUMBO 🔗
Housing Works Bookstore in NoLita 🔗
Aeon Bookstore in Lower East Side 🔗
Codex in Bowery 🔗
Molasses Books in Bushwick 🔗
Engage, read, write, create, and feel. It’s a powerful thing.
“For there are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt, of examining what our ideas really mean (feel like) on Sunday morning at 7 AM, after brunch, during wild love, making war, giving birth; while we suffer the old longings, battle the old warnings and fears of being silent and impotent and alone, while tasting our new possibilities and strengths.” -Audre Lorde, Poetry is Not a Luxury
