In ‘Every Day We Get More Illegal,’ former U.S. poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera imparts hope through poetry
Many people are intimidated by poetry, so let me, a poet myself, offer a frame: Poetry is not pieces of fiction chopped up and dropped at random on the page. If it helps as an entry point, though, you might imagine the synergy between such pieces. Poetry takes longer to read than nonfiction — at least it should, since poetry does not explain but transports and, in so doing, transfigures. Poetry is not for processing with the mind to reach a conclusion or argument. It is an adaptogen; it gives you what you need, whether that’s a punch in the gut or a healing of the heart. ...