Today, we're talking a lot about poetry. So here are #TenThingsAboutPoetry, its importance and why it's for everyone. Follow the hashtag to collect them all!

1. Over the past hundred years or so there has been a general push by certain groups to frame poetry as old-fashioned, or elitist, or irrelevant. It's not. Poetry is everywhere, and its influence is huge. #TenThingsAboutPoetry

2. There are as many different kinds of poetry as there are kinds of music. In fact, poetry is arguably a kind of music, using words as instruments. #TenThingsAboutPoetry

3. Like music, poetry depends on rhythms, sounds and pauses for its effect. #TenThingsAboutPoetry

4. Like music, it can be very powerful. Like music, it is often a way of exploring culture, expressing rebellion and sharing deep feelings. #TenThingsAboutPoetry

5. Rhymes are optional in poetry; but one thing that rhyming poetry has taught us is that we are instinctively more likely to believe something if it's expressed in rhyme. (Marketeers and politicians worked this out years ago.) #TenThingsAboutPoetry

6. Poetry is the natural medium for satire and rebellion. That's why so many slogans and protest songs are in verse. #TenThingsAboutPoetry

7. Verse is not more complicated than prose; in fact it's quite the opposite. Verse is much easier to remember, especially when it rhymes. #TenThingsAboutPoetry

8. That's why children enjoy nursery rhymes: they're easy to remember. They teach children to play with words and ideas from a very early age, which helps them develop literacy. #TenThingsAboutPoetry

9. Poetry can be as simple, or complicated, or as adult, or as silly, or as calming, or as exciting, or as plain, or as cerebral, or as challenging as you like. It's never just the one thing. #TenThingsAboutPoetry

10. The oldest surviving writings we know are poems. It is a universal medium, reaching across centuries and continents, connecting people through words and rhythm. We need poetry more than ever because we need those human connections. #TenThingsAboutPoetry