Does Poetry Matter?

I agree with Dana. Poetry is an after thought in our society, a way-after thought if you ask me. The only personal exposure I have had to poetry was in a literature class I took at my junior college and in this class. When you ask me who the great authors are I don't know if I would have listed a poet before this class. I also had no idea that poets hardly get any attention. It really stood out to me when Dana talked about how it took Henry Taylor receiving a Pulitzer Prize to get his poem reviewed. It was also surprising to me to read that Congress and 25 states have put the position of poet laureate in place. I believe that poetry deserves a spot in our society, if not a big one, at least a bigger one than it has already. Thinking about the many people going to college to get degrees in creative writing who are probably not expecting to do much with their work is sad to me.