Our Purpose

Why marrow you might ask? Why reference an anatomical feature in the title of a blog dedicated to poetry? It may seem vulgar or even macabre, but it has metaphorical meaning that many may not see at first glance. When I was trying to decide what to name the blog, I kept wondering why myself and my peers enjoyed poetry so much- and why we were inspired to write it. I was reading some of my favorite poets (partially for inspiration and partially as a diversion) and I stumbled across this famous line from Thoreau's Walden:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms.”

The bolded line hit me hard. It explains why we write poetry- to suck the marrow out of life. Myself and my friends seek to live our lives to the fullest. Through pain, happiness, complacency, and often anger, we seek to find enlightenment through words and whatever rhythm and melody we can give them. Poetry keeps us grounded, it keeps us sane, it keeps us together, and it allows us to see truth more clearly. That is why we write, that is why this blog is called Marrow, because it is our thoughts and emotions distilled down to the most meaningful observations. We intend to suck the marrow from our lives and paint it on this online canvas as best as we can. We sincerely hope that you enjoy our work- it is a reflection of our souls and it would give each and every one of us all the enjoyment in the world to know that it was meaningful to someone. Onward!