Ars Poetica
Ars Poetica
By Dinos Siotis
Special to Prometeo
Poetry is about re-inventing the language. The reality in which poets live is marvellous, is ridiculous, is a salvation army running to protect them from the invaders of real reality. Greek poetry has roots that go back to Homer. Greek is a language with a continuity of 5,000 millennia. Today in Greece there are poets of all ages that interest the demanding reader. It is a mix of young, old and middle-aged poets. Poetry is a vocation not a verdict, a charisma not a curse. Unless you define as verdict the duty of the poet to be awake at all times, to be aware of what’s going around him, to play a role not only in the artistic, literary world but also in the political landscape. Because life is too short to leave it to the politicians. Poetry is always in my head and at the same time it’s all around me. We live in an absurd world, in a homophobic society, in weird times. The mundane is part of the metaphysical and the metaphysical is an extension of reality. The surreal has become real and vice versa. Poetry does not have to make us feel sad or bitter. Poetry could make us strong to face mediocrity, it should strengthen our spirit and awake us all and show us what’s real and what lies beneath all the fuzz called “life”. Real poets are prophets and poetry is the safest way to interpret life.
Published on April 17th, 2012.
