“Poetry is something that happens in universities, in creative writing programs or in English departments.”
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And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is surprising that so much poetry is written.
Pain is filtered in a poem so that it becomes finally, in the end, pleasure.
It's very hard to write humor.
I certainly can't speak for all cultures or all societies, but it's clear that in America, poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It's not part of the cultural mainstream.