In Working On A Poem, I Love

If The Poem Is So Moving That Even If You Have No Experience In That Particular Setting Be It 1920's Harlem Let's Say. You Still Are So Moved That You Can Put Yourself In That Position. That Means That The Writer Has Managed To Go Beyond The Personal And Touch The Humanity In All Of Us And It's Really A Blast To Read It Because I Realize How That This Does Hold True For The Truly Great Poems.

I Was Pirouette And Flourish, I Was Filigree And Flame. How Could I Count My Blessings When I Didn't Know Their Names?

I Never Think Of My Audience When I Write A Poem. I Try To Write Out Of Whatever Is Haunting Me; In Order For A Poem To Feel Authentic, I Have To Feel I'm Treading On Very Dangerous Ground, Which Can Mean That The Resulting Revelations May Prove Hurtful To Other People. The Time For Thinking About That Kind Of Guilt Or Any Collective Sense Of Responsibility, However, Occurs Much Later In The Creative Process, After The Poem Is Finished.

The Poetry That Sustains Me Is When I Feel That, For A Minute, The Clouds Have Parted And I've Seen Ecstasy Or Something

In Working On A Poem, I Love To Revise. Lots Of Younger Poets Don't Enjoy This, But In The Process Of Revision I Discover Things