Most of us heard poetry as babies — nursery rhymes, lullabies, that sort of thing. By the time we reach adulthood, though, poetry is no longer part of our every day lives.
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser says poetry has become something scary. Kooser traces that fear back to the early 20th century, when modernist poets like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound were popular.