Taylor Swift’s Poetry, Catharsis, and Unifying Power

by Raiha Zainab

Taylor Swift is a poet, and if you cried during the Eras Tour, you will love Ars Poetica’s unique take on poetry as experiential entertainment at events.

How a poet became a die-hard Swiftie

A few weeks ago, I found myself screaming along to my favorite Taylor Swift songs at the Eras Tour in Minneapolis. As I started paying more attention to Taylor’s lyrics, I quickly evolved into a die-hard Swiftie. To me, she’s not just a singer, but a poet. As a poet myself, I’m in awe of her ability to weave words and harmonies together so majestically. After seeing her live at the Eras Tour, here are some of my observations about her art.

Raiha in Minneapolis about to commune with her poetic fairy godmother

where are you when you’re alone?

We all find ourselves wading through the dark. There are places we go where we feel we are entirely alone. 

As a poet, I’ve found that when I finally step into the courage to rise from those depths and share my stories from that darkness, other people feel seen. Poetry is like shining a light into the darkness to say — Look. I’ve been there too. You are not alone.

Taylor’s music does this on a mass scale. She is one of the few artists that has not only maintained her level of fame but has grown it exponentially while staying true to her artistic vision, and I believe this is because she has never shied away from sharing the truth of her emotions — whether it be the darkest pain, the lightest joy, or both intertwined.

Going to the Eras Tour and screaming lyrics like “what a shame she’s fucked in the head” with tens of thousands of other fans at the top of our lungs was a screeching reminder of our shared pain — and our shared healing.

Taylor Swift: Mirror

To put art out into the world is to hold up a mirror through which people can see the truth of themselves. 

Taylor’s art is an homage to vulnerability. She’s built her whole career around her ability to make a crowd of 80,000 feel as intimate as a girlhood sleepover.

There have been so many moments when I’ve listened to a Taylor Swift song and thought I can’t believe I’m not the only one who’s felt that. Then I come to find that millions of others have also felt that.

It is not an easy thing to create and share art from those places of hurt. This is what holds so many of us back from freely creating and expressing ourselves. We are afraid of our own truth. 

This is what I most respect Taylor for: her ability to not only create from those oftentimes most isolating places but to then share that for the world to bear witness. It is not an easy thing. She has faced more than her fair share of judgment and criticism for doing so (not to mention the misogyny of reducing her to a girl who only sings about boys). Yet, her courage to continue writing from those vulnerable places is what has inspired her near-cult-like following — and also what’s inspired so many artists like myself to shed light on our own creativity. 

The beauty of this is that we all have the ability to tap into this power. Like Taylor, you too can reach into your own well of creativity and vulnerability and release your own truth out into the world 

A Poem for Taylor Swift: 

it is an act of bravery, you see

to stand up there on the stage

& let the world watch you be

i watched you grow up 

& in turn, you raised me

let me know it was okay to feel all this too, so violently 

you showed me colors you know i can’t see with anyone else

because as i watched you up there dancing, 

i watched myself

in the mirror in 9th grade

taking a deep breath before i walked through doors on my very first day

wondering if that boy will tell me he loves me or if i’ll ever be okay

lying on the floor after my very first heartbreak

you were there, i remember it all too well 

dancin’ round the room as we found our old selves

together in a stadium of 80,000 people we sang

here, we held each other hand in hand 

lookin’ round at the glimmering lights, i knew 

they’ve all felt this pain too 

i was never alone, really

i had all of you

Raiha at Ars Poetica’s Barbiecore poetry party at the Malibu Barbie Cafe in New York City. Photo by Audrey Blackmore of Adja Creative

typewriter poets for event entertainment

Editor’s Note:

Raiha Zainab is a poet with Ars Poetica and a new blog contributor. If you’re interested in learning more about her or booking her to write custom poems at your next event (whether a Taylor Swift listening party, Barbie birthday, fashion show, wedding, or corporate gathering) reach out to her at raiha@arspoetica.us for more information about booking Ars Poetica poets worldwide.