Yirgalem Ketema

Poetry is our underappreciated art form. Jorge Luis Borges once said, “Truly fine poetry must be read aloud. A good poem does not allow itself to be read in a low voice or silently. If we can read it silently, it is not a valid poem: a poem demands pronunciation. Poetry always remembers that it was an oral art before it was a written art. It remembers that it was first song.” I once had the opportunity to read my favorite poem at an event in Houston hosted by Robert Pinsky, America’s Poet Laureate.