Poetry is on everyday life

Poetry may have been made to seem difficult to you by being on topics you are not familiar with. However, you start enjoying poetry through things or people that are just ordinary and believable. Sample the one below and see that there was nothing really to fear about poetry.

A Sudden Storm

    The wind howls, the trees sway,
The loose house-top sheets clatter and clang,
The open window shuts with a bang,
    And the sky makes night of day

    Helter-skelter the parents run,
Pressed with a thousand minor cares:
"Hey you there! Pack the house wares!
    And where on earth is my son?"

    Home skip the little children:
'Where have you been you naughty boy?'-
The child can feel nothing but joy,
    For he loves the approach of rain.

    The streets clear, the houses fill,
The noise gathers as children shout
To rival the raging wind without,
    And nought that can move is still-

   A bright flash!- a lighted plain;
Then, from the once- blue heavens,
Accompanied by noise that deafens,
    Steadily pours the rain.
                                 Pius Oleghe

(Julius Ochieng. Oral Literature & Poetry: A Simplified Guide to KCSE English. Intercen Books Publishing Company, 2022.)

The poem is about events that happen just before a storm. They are events that are familiar to us. For example, there is wind blowing strongly and iron sheets make noise, parents are worried about the whereabouts of their children and children seem to enjoy the whole show. Finally, the rain comes down. 

To make the poem more vivid, the poet incorporates sound devices like onomatopoeia - words formed from a  sound - like 'howls', 'clatter' and 'clang'. He also uses rhyme - words - that end in similar sounds like 'run' and 'son'. He also uses direct speech to make the scene authentic. He says: "...And where on earth is my son?"

There! Did you see anything to scratch your head about?  In trying to understand poetry first stick to what is familiar. Then, you will have fun.