Poem .. part 2

After I blogged yesterday about the class approach to a poem I sought out Robin Skelton’s “The Practice of Poetry”. I did a quick read in a couple of sections. I’m even more convinced that we should approach a poem “open”. By that I mean that we should not approach it with an already formed process for discussing it, e.g., our class approach was to consider it through the overlapping lenses of sociology and ministry. I believe we should listen to what the poem wishes to whisper to us. It may wish to say what we have not come prepared to both search for and find by imposition of pre-formed analysis. We may be looking for something particular; the poem may not wish to comment and lead us that way. It is just that the poem used on Thursday evening last seemed to me, and I know anthropomorphic again, cry out that it was being hurt by our somewhat forced analysis. Perhaps we need an introduction to approaching and reading a poem?