Have you ever heard a good joke? If youve ever heard someone just right, with the right pacing, then youre already on the way to poetry. Its about using words in very precise ways and using gesture. – Rita Dove
The poetry that sustains me is when I feel that, for a minute, the clouds have parted and Ive seen ecstasy or something. – Rita Dove
Im conscious of a series of circles working its way through my life. And at this particular moment I have come round to the beginning of my writing cycle. It begins with poetry. Theres hardly a day that goes past on which I dont write poetry. – Ben Okri
Poetic talent doesnt operate in a vacuum. There is a spirit of Polish poetry. – Wislawa Szymborska
Unfortunately, poetry is not born in noise, in crowds, or on a bus. There have to be four walls and the certainty that the telephone will not ring. Thats what writing is all about. – Wislawa Szymborska
In the language of poetry, where every word is weighed, nothing is usual or normal. Not a single stone and not a single cloud above it. Not a single day and not a single night after it. And above all, not a single existence, not anyones existence in this world. – Wislawa Szymborska
I was trained as an actress. But I wasnt a very convincing actress, so I started doing punk poetry and then fell into doing stand-up. – Jenny Eclair
Ive always had a love for poetry and when I got signed to a record label I thought, How odd that Im doing a record before a book of poetry, – Jewel
I think when kids just see well-crafted poetry, its just obtuse to them. Its hard to relate to. – Jewel
Translation is an interestingly different way to be involved both with poetry and with the language that Ive found myself living in much of the time. I think the two feed each other. – Marilyn Hacker
Poetry isnt a profession, its a way of life. Its an empty basket you put your life into it and make something out of that. – Mary Oliver
I think that its more likely that in my 60s and 70s I will be writing poetry rather than fiction. – Robert Morgan
Pounds translation of Chinese poetry was maybe the most important thing I read. Eliot a little bit later. – Robert Morgan
You have to really dive deep back into yourself and get rid of so much modern analytical categorization. Its one of the great things poetry does. – Robert Morgan
I dont think poetry is something that can be taught. We can encourage young writers, but what you cant teach them is the very essence of poetry. – Robert Morgan
I dont think the creative writing industry has helped American poetry. – Robert Morgan
I dont think American poetry has gotten any better in the past 35 years. Oddly enough, creative writing programs seem to have been good for fiction, and I would not have predicted that. – Robert Morgan
What actually makes poetry poetry is of course impossible to define. We recognize it when we hear it, when we see it, but we cant define it. – Robert Morgan
Part of what we love about poetry is the fact that it seems ancient, that it has an authority of ancient language and ancient form, and that its timeless, that it reaches back. – Robert Morgan
