After poetry

I finished my MFA in poetry in January. While I was still in MA, it was easy to keep writing, keep submitting, keep up correspondence - sharing poems and critiquing others' work. It's been difficult since moving to SF. I'm working on establishing some sort of rhythm, which I'm confident will happen.

In the meantime, I've been thinking about what life is like without poetry. I'm trying to conciously gauge where poetry shows up without my actively seeking it out. I figured it'd be much more common here, living in SF, in the city, as opposed to the burbs south of Boston.

So far, that hasn't proven true. SF is definitely an artistic city, and there's poetry to be found, but it doesn't come looking for me. I suppose I shouldn't expect it to, but it is sad to note. If you ignore poetry, poetry goes away.

This, I should note, is in contrast to many other things, like visual art forms, paintings, sculpture, tv and film, even tagging. I see those things without exerting any effort. Poetry hides somewhere else, maybe in neighborhoods I haven't found yet.

There are bookstores, certainly, and bars where I know readings happen. But on the streets, despite all the vibrant activity, the protests and craziness I pass by on my bike each day, poetry is hiding.