One of the most famous blogging platforms is Tumblr, where people share pictures, written posts, videos, and more through different accounts. One Tumblr user, a girl named Madisen Kuhn, gained notoriety for her poems that she published on that website - in a simple format with a white background, lowercase letters, and only signing her initials - m.k.
Madisen is only 20 years old and from Virginia - a background not unlike my own. Differently from me, however, she self-published a book of her poetry when she was 19 and published over 10,000 copies, which is no small feat. Her inspiration, as cited on her website, included overcoming depression and anxiety, love, art, and just the little things that make life sweet. When I stumbled upon her poetry, I was astounded. She seemed similar to me - but so eloquent and wise beyond her years to be able to articulate her emotions in a way that resonated not only with me, but enough people to buy over 10,000 copies of a self-published book.
The hump that I think most people have with poetry is that it seems antiquated or inaccessible. I even felt that way before I realized the healing power that words could have. Poetry, to me, is like writing a diary entry but throwing caution to the wind. Typical grammar is overrated, and symbolism and thematic content are king.
One of the reasons that m.k.'s poetry exploded and became so popular was its aesthetic, which is one oft-used on tumblr - minimalism. The minimalistic style of little punctuation, simple text and background, and often no title reflected an emphasis on emotions and a departure from the "extra" that had overtaken our generation. I think people want to return to the simpler.
When scrolling through poems by m.k., trying to select one to feature here, I realized that they all were absolutely beautiful and absolutely different, but to try to capture what her poetry means by analyzing one single poem misses the point. I've attached an index of her poems, and if you care, please look through and just skim the poems to see the greater purpose of her poems.
They tell a story when put together.
Her poems fluctuate between hopeful and hopeless, depressed and imaginative, lonely or content. There are eras of life that can be tracked by the tone, subject matter, and even titles of the poems. Titles like "collecting dust" and "i am not a shadow" are reflective of a time in her life when she was hurt and writing to heal. Alternately, poems with titles like "atoms" and "indigo" can reflect similar subject matter - a lost love - but in a completely different tone and from a completely changed perspective. This is representative of a change in heart and the ability to heal.
Poets are just like you and I. They love, lose, and heal, and we often overlook the struggles they face to just analyze the poetry they wrote perhaps to help us heal. But we need to remember that they also are just trying to get through this crazy wild thing we call life (cue 7th grade profile picture).
So read on. Keep reading.
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