It seems odd at times what can happen in a day. Take today for example. I sold 6,911 dollars in Gift cards today in the 7 hours I cashiered! That is almost double what the top selling person sold last week! I can tell you, lightning don't strike twice... that's for sure.

On the way to work this morning I was listening to The End (107.7) (And I will not link up to that here being as their site is probably as offensive as 75% of their music, (As to WHY I listen to it, it is because I can hear a lot of technique when I listen to music, and that style of music has a lot of, well, style, in it. So if the lyrics aren't too horrid and I don't feel the need to change the station, I enjoy the occational heavy electric sounds that those types of bands play around with.))
Anyway, a song by the much loathed (at least here on 802.heaven) Eminem came on. I was about to switch the channel when I got an idea in my head and I listened to him spit words out, it struck me that no matter what else you can call it what he does is poetry. I got to thinking that poetry, is in it's own way a lot like Magic. Some people have this skill at putting together words and phrases that draw images out of the imagination and make them dance before you and inspire you and engage you in ways you don't even begin to realize. Poetry is the power to conjure images with words. Be that for the good, or for evil.

As with any kind of power/ gift there are good sides and bad sides to it. My idea is that Eminem would be considered an abuse of power, kind of like the "dark side" or the evil side of poetry. (That which does more harm than good) Then you have the neutral kind of poetry. Billy Collins (scroll down to read his stuff) is such as that I believe. He is very good at what he does, he inspires, he conjures images and all that, but does he serve a cause at all? I think in essence the "neutral" poetry is the stuff that is the easiest to write. The hardest of poetry types, I would argue, would be the good/ "light" poetry. Poetry that uplifts, encourages, and seeks to encourage people to a higher purpose than their own desires. That is the hard part, getting people to go beyond their "natures" with just words. I would have to say that I haven't seen too many modern poets that can do this, but those from the past I have seen them do it remarkably well.
As my argument goes dark poetry isn't as easy as neutral poetry, I would say that it is probably easier to get people to agree with you and sink into it because that is how humans are quite naturally.

That was my deep thought for this evening. I would love to see discussion and your thoughts on this...

~B.