Caption-worthy Poetry

Esther Santiago Rodriguez, Fiction Panelist

During the last few years, social media seems to have taken over the world, and now it’s taking over the literary world as well. You can find a great piece of poetry scrolling through your social media feed on a daily basis, especially on Instagram.

Instagram has become a portal where writers, whether anonymous, debuting or renowned, collide to post their literary masterpieces. However, most of the time, admiring readers do the sharing.

Most of the poems shared are short. Like J.H. Hard’s powerful one-line poem:

Others share a sequence of pictures of the author’s work. The images can stand alone as a whole and hold a meaningful message. Reading them altogether gives a new meaning, creating a greater spark.

 

 

 

Poems can also be accompanied with interesting drawings (fan art or original artwork), adorned with flowers or direct sunlight, with creative backgrounds either bright and colorful or black and white. Some are even hand-written.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also, Instagram readers– followers, if you will, get a little bonus because the poems are shared with captions. Authors have the choice of using captions to promote their work and to announce release dates. Authors can also use captions to give more depth to the poem. The captions can shift the reader’s perspective or create more emotion to it. Or they can interact with the reader.

Writers get to share their inner thoughts like an open diary to the rest of the world. There are poems written in a variety of languages as diverse as the platform’s audience. Although English is the predominant language, the great thing about Instagram is that the readers can find  a poem in their native tongue, or the language they prefer. It also provides a space for translation, which breaks languages barriers so everyone can enjoy reading equally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The common themes of the poems shared on Instagram are on: love, friendship, self-esteem, self-love, personal healing and growth, in summary, personal situations.

Love:

Now that Valentine’s Day is coming up, writers and readers are taking advantage of the season to share romantic poetry and prose for their significant others. Although it doesn’t have to be near Valentine’s Day to want to share something meaningful or to dedicate a verse to your loved ones. What is lovelier than a writer in love? What they write, and the reader who shares it.

Author Perry Poetry shares one of his poems, and it’s so captivating because of its simplicity yet of its depth. The artwork is the perfect complement to the Perry’s poem. They are two pieces in harmony, and that’s how love feels.

 

Friendship:

 

It’s always comforting to know who you can count with.

Self-esteem and Self-love:

Lately, self-love has one of the most popular themes or topics on poetry, and it can be considered the most important one. Social consciousness of how many people struggle as individuals has risen. In a world where there is so much going on, loving yourself first is the most essential thing to do.

Healing and Growth:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I find “healing and growth” poems the most refreshing ones. After a long day of stress, the reader can remind themselves  there are others struggling just as much. These poems remind me things do get better, and encourage me to stay strong.

Overall, each Instagram post is unique in its own way, and because of their simplicity, they are refreshing to read. There is a sort of minimalist theme that is dominant and groups the poems through a cohesive aesthetic. It makes me want to print the poems and hang them on the wall or decorate my notebooks with it. I even wish I had T-shirts made out of them because they are so inspiring. What I love about Instagram poetry is that the poems are about everything and about nothing, but its main goal is to touch the heart, to move the readers/followers.

The reason why these “caption-worthy” poems are so captivating is because they show the pains and joys of humanity. They show what the author feels, and the reader can relate to it by bringing you someone in mind, or reminding you of yourself.