One merit of poetry few persons will deny: it says more and in fewer words than prose.
Voltaire
I don't like the word 'poetry,' and I don't like poetry readings, and I usually don't like poets. I would much prefer describing... →
Tom Waits
PC stuff just lowers the general acceptance of good work and replaces it with bogus poetry that celebrates values that in themselves are probably... →
Diane Wakoski
I think that's what poetry does. It allows people to come together and identify with a common thing that is outside of themselves, but which they... →
Distinctly American poetry is usually written in the context of one's geographic landscape, sometimes out of one's cultural myths, and often... →
I have always wanted what I have now come to call the voice of personal narrative. That has always been the appealing voice in poetry. It started for... →
Still, language is resilient, and poetry when it is pressured simply goes underground.
I definitely wish to distinguish American poetry from British or other English language poetry.
American poetry, like American painting, is always personal with an emphasis on the individuality of the poet.
But I am not political in the current events sense, and I have never wanted anyone to read my poetry that way.