Dear Viewers, I love poetry *heart symbol*

It's really easy to make a superficial appraisal of poetry as a whole. 

"I hate poetry," half the people you talk to will say.  "It's so boring and vague, and I'm horrible at writing it."

"I love poetry!" the other half will respond.  "It's so beautiful and meaningful."  But how much does either group really know about or invest in poetry?  How much true thought have they put into their respective answers?  Maybe some students like poetry because it involves less assigned reading material.  Perhaps some dislike it because it requires a more thorough, deeper reading process - or a high level of introspection in both the case of reading and writing.  To be honest, I've probably fallen into each group at some time or other. 

Whichever side of the poetry-appreciation line someone belongs to, poetry is actually pretty hard.  That's because good poetry has depth; it has multiple layers and oftentimes some of those layers are covered.  To reach those lower layers, the reader has to dive through the gleaming surface to an even deeper level of understanding.  That process isn't always the most enjoyable without dedication and an ability to draw joy from the mental exercise.  And sometimes after doing that, all that's been uncovered just seems like BS, or perhaps over-speculation on the part of readers who find the Aliens of Huskinania buried within a poem about desire by Sidney.  But in good poetry, the deeper layers, once successfully uncovered, have a clear and meaningful purpose in the poem - that makes poetry worth it.  Developing the skill to fully enjoy poetry, yes, is hard work, but that end result of being able to enjoy great poetry is what makes the process worth it.  It's a process that, myself and even some poetry aficionados I'm sure, have to continually work at because poetry is worth it.