The gross heathenism of civilization has generally destroyed nature, and poetry, and all that is spiritual.
John Muir
One will never again look at a birch tree, after the Robert Frost poem, in exactly the same way.
Paul Muldoon
For whatever reason, people, including very well-educated people or people otherwise interested in reading, do not read poetry.
That's one of the great things about poetry; one realises that one does one's little turn - that you're just part of the great crop, as... →
The other side of it is that, despite all that, people reach out to poetry at the key moments in their lives.
We simply have not kept in touch with poetry.
I think it was T.S. Eliot who talked about good poetry being felt before it's understood. I believe that. There are some bands where I love their... →
Marcus Mumford
Even the people who have had success and made money writing these books of fiction seem to feel the need to pretend it's no big deal, or part of... →
George Murray
Humour is a fine line to walk in poetry, as in fiction. I just think it's harder to write. It's harder to keep the respect of the reader too.
The poetry community here has been extraordinarily welcoming.