I read a little bit of nonfiction and a lot of poetry. I think of poetry as my shot of whiskey when I don't have time to savor a whole bottle of wine. Alice McDermott bitebottlelot Change image and share on social
At eight, I made a commitment to poetry. Until then, I thought I'd be a policeman. But I went a whole night without sleeping, and the next day the world had changed. It needed a different language. Alice Oswald changecommitmentday Change image and share on social
A poet's autobiography is his poetry. Anything else is just a footnote. Yevgeny Yevtushenko autobiographyfootnotepoet Change image and share on social
To different minds, poetry may present different phases. To me, the reverent faith of the people I lived among, and their faithful everyday living, was poetry; blossoms and trees and blue shies were poetry. God himself was poetry. Lucy Larcom blossomblueeveryday share on social
I wasn't afraid of being poor. I didn't want to live in a big house. I'm the perfect size for poetry. I can move around. Eileen Myles afraidbighouse Change image and share on social
I will not leave a corner of my consciousness covered up, but saturate myself with the strange and extraordinary new conditions of this life, and it will all refine itself into poetry later on. Isaac Rosenberg conditionconsciousnesscorner Change image and share on social
Everyone thinks they're going to write one book of poems or one novel. Marilyn Hacker bookpoemthink Change image and share on social
In 'A Poetics of Optics,' Equi writes that 'all images bank on alchemy.' This idea captures her fundamental sense of poetry as turning common material into something rare and valuable. Floyd Skloot alchemybankcapture Change image and share on social
How can any one paint who cannot grade colors? How can any one write poetry who has not learnt to hear and see? Maria Montessori colorgradehear Change image and share on social
Poetry is a pure meritocracy. There's no room for ambiguity: either a poem moves you and opens up new vistas in life, or it doesn't. It's completely objective, and the best always rise to the top. Jim Goetz ambiguitycompletelylife Change image and share on social
