on poetry
April 16, 2021
“…prose is a public language and poetry is a private language….”
Mary Ruefle
(b. April 16, 1952)
on poetry
March 26, 2021
“I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering.”
Robert Frost
(March 26, 1874 – January 29, 1963)
. . . . .
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quoted in The New York Times (Nov. 7, 1955)
on poetry
March 15, 2021
“The highest kind of writing — which must not be confused with the most ambitious kind — belongs to the realm of grace. Talent is part of it, certainly; a thorough understanding of the secret laws, absolutely. But finding the subject and theme which is in perfect harmony with your deepest nature, your forgotten selves, your hidden dreams, and the full unresonated essence of your life — now that cannot be reached through searching, nor can it be stumbled upon through ambition. That sort of serendipity comes upon you on a lucky day. It may emerge even out of misfortune or defeat. You may happen upon it without realising that this is the work through
which your whole life will sing. We should always be ready. We should always be humble. Creativity should always be a form of prayer.”
Ben Okri
(b. March 15, 1959)
– – – – –
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quote from A Way of Being Free
on poetry
March 8, 2021
“Charon: I will be a scandal in your boat.”
Juana de Ibarbourou
(March 8, 1892 – July 15, 1979)
. . . . .
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quote from “Rebelde,” Las lenguas de diamante, 1918
on poetry
February 24, 2021
“I always had a few people who liked what I did, and that was enough.”
Etel Adnan
(b. February 24, 1925)
on poetry
February 12, 2021
“My love for looking deeply and closely at the world, for putting my whole self into it, and by doing so, seeing the many, many possibilities of a narrative, turned out to be a gift, because taking my sweet time taught me everything I needed to know about writing. And writing taught me everything I needed to know about creating worlds where people could be seen and heard, where their experiences could be legitimized, and where my story, read or heard by another person, inspired something in them that became a connection between us, a conversation. And isn’t that what this is all about — finding a way, at the end of the day, to not feel alone in this world, and a way to feel like we’ve changed it before we leave? Stone to hammer, man to mummy, idea to story — and all of it, remembered.”
Jacqueline Woodson
(b. February 12, 1963)
on poetry
February 4, 2021
“I found that my wounds begin to heal when the voices of those endangered by silence are given power. The silence of hopelessness, of despair buried in the depths of poverty, violence, racism are more deadly than bullets.”
Janice Mirikitani
(b. February 4, 1941)
on poetry
January 20, 2021
“try to put the poetry in the language that we speak, to use that language, take those simple words and make out of them something that is moving, that is powerful, that is there.”
Pat Parker
(January 20, 1944 – June 17, 1989)
on poetry
January 15, 2021
“I really do sincerely feel that bewilderment is at the core of every great poem, and in order to be bewildered, you have to be able to wonder. You absolutely have to be permeable to wonder.”
Kaveh Akbar
(b. January 15, 1989)
. . . . .
photo by Hieu Minh Nguyen
quote
on poetry
January 7, 2021
“What I love about drafts is the experimental nature of them. The draft is what you know about writing a poem running up against what you don’t know about the subject. If you’re lucky, you get to surprise yourself.”
Cornelius Eady
(b. January 7, 1954)
. . . . .
photo by Chip Cooper
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