The Atlantic explains why you should read poetry

Adam Roberts writes and teaches poetry, yet he still easily identifies with staunch poetry haters who practically break out in hives at the sight of a poem. The party line goes something like this:

Yeah, poetry sucks! It's confusing, it's pretentious, it's precious, it's frivolous and disconnected and has nothing to do with my life. Right on.

So what is to like about poetry? Why should anyone make time for it when there's so much Twittering and Facebook stalking to catch up on? Roberts has instigated a series of online discussions in the Atlantic to addresss these sorts of questions —  a sort of poetry "state of the union" for fans and critics alike.

From the Atlantic:

It is to and from this perspective—that of the absolute, and righteous, skeptic—that I would like to address this series on poetry—a series in which I will actually appeal to you to read the stuff. Now, odds are you already experience "poetic" language almost everywhere in your everyday life—from music videos, to creative advertising formulations, to the rhymes and mnemonic devices that circulate through our days from early childhood. But this series will focus on those strange creatures that actually still choose to call themselves "poetry." What does their world look like today? How to introduce it to an outsider?

The first discussion topic will the be the "accessibility"  of a poem.