What are the sources of poetry? Love and death and the paradox of love and death. All poetry from the beginning is about Eros and Thanatos. Those are... →
Erica Jong
Poetry is what we turn to in the most emotional moments of our life - when a beloved friend dies, when a baby is born or when we fall in love.
Poetry is the language we speak in the most terrifying or ecstatic passages of our lives. But the very word poetry scares people. They think of their... →
I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to... →
In poetry you can express almost inexpressible feelings. You can express the pain of loss, you can express love. People always turn to poetry when... →
Often I find that poems predict what I'm going to do later in my own writing, and often I find that poems predict my life. So I think poetry is... →
I guess the thing that I'm most proud of is that I kept on writing poetry. I understand that poetry is sort of the source of everything I do.... →
Poetry is a political act because it involves telling the truth.
June Jordan
The first function of poetry is to tell the truth, to learn how to do that, to find out what you really feel and what you really think.
So, poetry becomes a means for useful dialogue between people who are not only unknown, but mute to each other. It produces a dialogue among people... →