At a time when algorithms reward speed, visual content dominates attention spans and vulnerability is often reduced to carefully worded captions, South African author and poet Kemera Moodly is advocating for something far slower and far more honest.
Through a recent conversation on poetry, healing and identity, Moodly explored why writing continues to matter in an increasingly distracted world, and how poetry remains a powerful outlet for people trying to process grief, faith, relationships and the emotions they often struggle to say aloud. For many young people especially, she argues, poetry is not becoming irrelevant. It is becoming necessary.
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Writing as a form of self-expression
For Moodly, poetry began as a private language. She explained that she does not necessarily write with the intention of healing herself. Instead, writing helps her process emotions and thoughts in a way that feels honest. Healing may happen as a result, but expression comes first.
Not every poem is written with a lesson attached to it. Sometimes writing simply becomes a place to hold emotions that feel too large, too complex or too contradictory to explain in everyday conversation.
And often, readers find themselves inside those same emotions. What begins as deeply personal writing can unexpectedly become collective.
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Poetry in an era of shrinking attention spans
Modern platforms are built for speed. Videos autoplay. Trends disappear within hours. Audiences are constantly pulled towards content that demands very little reflection. Poetry is different.
It requires stillness. It asks people to sit with discomfort, ambiguity and emotion for longer than a fifteen-second reel allows. Moodly noted that this creates an interesting divide online.
Younger audiences on platforms such as Instagram tend to engage more with visual content, while older audiences on platforms like Facebook are often more willing to pause and read.
That does not mean poetry is losing relevance. If anything, its slower nature may be exactly why people continue returning to it. In a world saturated by noise, poetry offers quiet.
For more on this conversation, watch the interview below:
Image credit: iStock
