I'm Italy Mone, and this is The Slowdown.

I've heard an argument against the usefulness of poetry, that poetry should be allowed

to be anything it wants to be, including useless.

And for the most part, I tend to agree.

If a poet wants to write a lyric poem that disappears in the wind or is buried in

the backyard for all of eternity, that's okay.

That's poetry too.

And still, I do think there's something to be said for the poetry that reaches out,

that attempts, and of course sometimes fails, at connecting to a larger audience.

It takes work to write those poems, or to try to compose something that speaks not

to one intimate person or one group, but to, let's say, all of society.

That seems like a nearly impossible task.

I think of the hard work of the inaugural poets, like Elizabeth Alexander, Richard Blanco,

and Amanda Gorman.

What it must have been like to compose a poem, not just for your family, your friends,

your community, but for nearly 40 million people, all expecting you to reach them, to recognize

their humanity in the crowd.

It's enough to make anyone give up, crawl back into bed, and pass this all-too-daunting

task onto anyone who might be willing to take it on themselves.

But the inaugural poets of the past have risen to the challenge, and it's inspiring to

see.

No one, of course, can please the masses or contend with all manners of deterrence and

...