Poetry Out Loud

I came across a poem written by the Poet Laureate of the United States, Jean Felipe Herrera. It was a longer poem, and I didn't really understand it. It didn't really speak to me. I had no emotional connection with it. Then I remembered what one of my professors said about how poetry is meant to be read out loud. Poets don't just play with words, they play with sounds, like Shakespeare and many others did. So, I read the poem out loud. There was beauty in the rhythms and the sounds, and those elements created a mental picture of a place and time in America. I don't know if that was the poet's intention, but that's what I got from it that time. I am grateful for a professor who encouraged reading out loud.