Poetry Makes You Harder to Kill

Part One: A Defense of Poetry
You, the Reader
Poetry Makes You Harder to Kill
Embrace Your Experiences
Song of the Open Road
Golden Age Thinking
Poetry and Depression
There Is Nothing Mundane about Your Day
In a World That Values Pragmatism, Can You Be a Poet?
Can I Just Read Poetry Because I Like Poetry?
Memorizing Poetry
Poetry Is Life Condensed to Its Essence

Part Two: Learning Through Poetry
To Teach and Delight the Audience
Why Do People Write Poems?
How Do You Read a Poem?
Questions To Begin Your Study
Finding a Poet
The Paths of Knowledge for the Self-directed Learner
Biographical and Historical Contexts of Authors
Types of Writers According to Ezra Pound
Genres
Genres of Literature
The Genre of Poetry

Part Three: Poetry Forms and Styles
The Forms of Poetry
Now, Why Form Is Important
Forms of Design, Forms of Subject
The Need for Poetic Forms
Some Terminology
Matsuo Basho−: Haikus, Haibuns, and Some Great Adventures
Haiku
Haibun
Travelogue of the Weather-Beaten Bones
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic Poetry
Why Is Epic Poetry Important for Us Today?
How Does the Epic of Gilgamesh Make You Harder to Kill?
Prose Poetry
Prose Poetry
Ekphrasis Poetry

Part Four: Tasks
Tasks Overview
Memorizing Poetry
Poet Laureate Research Project
Poetry in the Apocalypse
Poetry Mixtape

Part Five: Readings—Poems of Awareness, Meaning, Wisdom, and Community