A Spell Against Fear: Tracy K. Smith on Poetry and The Art of Productive Impatience

2 hours ago7 min read

David Bowie once named living in fear as the lowest depth of misery, a sentiment that resonates deeply with anyone who has felt that particular cage close in. It’s a small, dark room that can eclipse the world, a place where the key feels just out of reach in your own pocket.In a recent reflection, former U. S.Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith offers a potent counter-spell to this universal human condition: poetry.For Smith, poetry isn't merely an art form; it's the most generous key we have, a practice of productive impatience that unlocks the prison of our anxieties. It functions as an inquiry, an invocation, and an open invitation to look beyond the immediate confines of our worry.This perspective reframes poetry from a passive, decorative pursuit into an active, almost rebellious tool for living. It’s about cultivating a curiosity so fierce it burns through the fog of fear, asking the difficult questions that fear tries to silence.Smith’s insight connects to a broader, often overlooked human need—the need for language that doesn’t just describe our world but actively reshapes our interior landscape. In an era saturated with headlines designed to induce panic and social media feeds that amplify dread, her advocacy for poetry’s quiet, deliberate power feels both radical and essential.It’s a reminder that sometimes the most effective fight isn't a loud protest, but the patient, persistent work of finding the right words to name what haunts us, thereby robbing it of its power. This isn't about escapism; it's about a deeper engagement, using the precision and music of verse to map a way out of the small, dark room and back into the wide, uncertain, but ultimately livable world.

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#Tracy K. Smith

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