I like poems.

I never knew my grandfather very well. He was a reserved man: brilliant and subtle. He had a crooked smile and he only spoke when he had something funny or insightful to say. As a result, I never knew him well and quite honestly, I never wanted to. There was no reason for that feeling, but he seemed like the kind of person who would be difficult to get to know. Eventually, I got to know him after he died. I read his book of poetry and I realized he was human. There's a running joke that the men on my father's side can't communicate well. That begun with my grandfather. But in these lines of free verse, his emotions braided themselves into each word, stringing letters together in an equally intentional and haphazard way. He communicated to me from beyond the grave in a manner only poetry could. Stories are fine - good even - but sometimes it's difficult to explain yourself in the detail stories require. Poetry and song share a common principle: their meanings are not definite or finite. You can manipulate people's words to make them your truth and that is the root of my love for poems. I see my granfathers words, and suddenly I am there with him, doing a puzzle and not saying much, but feeling his feelings.