Speaking of poetry… Stephen Fry in The Ode Less Traveled: Unlocking the Poet Within [(Gotham, 2005) p. xxiv], writes:
“It is easy to be shy when confronting a poem. Poems can be the frightening older children at a party who make us want to cling to our mothers. But remember that poets are people and they have taken the courageous step of sharing their fears, loves, hopes and narratives with us in a rare and crafted form. They have chosen a mode of expression that is concentrated and often intense, they are offering us a music that has taken them a long time to create—many hours in the making, a lifetime in the preparation. They don’t mean to frighten or put us off, they long for us to read their works and to enjoy them.”
HT: Slew
Tony Reinke 
I Love this.
I’ve just recently posted a post trying to explain myself in these exact words. I think sometimes people, especially those who know you (family, friends etc) get slightly worried or offended when they see a poets ‘art’ and they can be extremely critical and bitter towards you and your work. Fear perhaps? Of feeling that they don’t know you like they thought?
I finding I’m dealing with this right now, and felt I had to say something. Because like your post mentions “But remember that poets are people and they have taken the courageous step of sharing their fears, loves, hopes and narratives with us in a rare and crafted form…They don’t mean to frighten or put us off, they long for us to read their works and to enjoy them”
Thank you for this. I feel free again!x