The other day I wrote about Quiz Bowl, and briefly mentioned my glory days on middle school Academic Team. Some things about ourselves never change—I’m coaching quiz bowl over twenty years later—but many, thankfully, do.
For me, an important change is my attitude towards poetry. As a doughy middle schooler, I thought poetry was terrible. To my chubby past self’s credit, a great deal of what is presented as poetry is terrible. Indeed, much of it is worse than bathroom stall doggerel, which at least has to rhyme; possess a sense of rhythm; and be funny.
My appreciation for poetry began to turn around sometime in high school, and continued through college, but even after I started writing my own songs, I still mostly thought poetry was garbage, even as I snapped along politely while waiting my turn to play at various open mic nights. A few important people helped change my mind: Jeremy Miles; the folks at Dragon Common Room; and the subject of today’s Supporting Friends Friday: Son of Sonnet.
The Portly Politico 