Instagram Poetry

People call Instagram poetry bad, and some even go as far as to say it’s a rejection of craft. I’m talking about the type of poetry that is just a few lines long, that seems more like a sentence with line breaks than what we consider a poem to be.

But I’m not so sure it’s inherently bad. People read these poems; it brings them joy; they reshare. If the poems were bad, this wouldn’t happen. They certainly aren’t traditional, and that’s bound to piss a few people off. English majors, for sure.

I was speaking to a musician friend who went to 7-8 years of training at top institutions. He said it bothered him when he’d try and get a gig and the gig would go to “some guy with a guitar” who barely knows how to play.

And yet, that guy with a guitar is getting work. Even though he didn’t go to music school, the world wants what he’s got. Even if purists think it’s a rejection of craft.

And what matters most, at the end of it all, is what moves people. The authority that elitists think they have is actually self-generated.