Long before people could read or write, they had poetry. Ancient people used poems to remember their history, tell stories, and pass traditions from one generation to the next. Rhythm and rhyme made words easier to memorize. Every March 21, the world celebrates World Poetry Day. The United Nations created this day in 1999 to encourage people to read, write, and share poetry. Poetry comes in many forms. A haiku is a Japanese poem with exactly seventeen syllables arranged in three lines. A sonnet has fourteen lines and follows a strict rhyming pattern. Free verse has no rhyming rules at all. What makes poetry different from regular writing is how it uses language. Poets choose every word carefully. They use comparisons, sound patterns, and rhythm to create feelings that regular sentences cannot. A poem can make you see an ordinary thing in a completely new way. Famous poets include Maya Angelou, who wrote about courage and identity; Shel Silverstein, who wrote funny poems for children; and Pablo Neruda, who wrote about love and nature. Poetry is one of the oldest art forms. It exists in every language and every culture because it captures what it means to be human.