Edel Coffey: Poetry can help us understand the mystery of what it is to be alive

And yet many of us ignore it or think it is not for us

Edel Coffey. Picture: Ray Ryan

Last week I went along to a book launch for the Cork poet, Padraig Ó Tuama’s new book. I don’t often go to poetry readings, but I wanted to go to this one because I am a fan of Ó Tuama’s popular podcast, Poetry Unbound.

The podcast began just before the first lockdown and has accrued over six million downloads to date. If you listen to just one episode of the podcast you will understand its popularity. Ó Tuama reads a poem of his choosing, talks about it, and then reads it again. It sounds simple, but over the course of about 12 minutes or so he offers listeners a meditation, a therapy session, a conversation, and a spiritual reflection all delivered through the magic of poetry. It’s really quite something.