The White Sun Like A Moth On

The Poet Exposes Himself To The Risk. All That Has Been Said About Poetry, All That He Has Learned About Poetry, Is Only A Partial Assurance.

If We Ask A Vague Question, Such As, 'what Is Poetry?' We Expect A Vague Answer, Such As, 'poetry Is The Music Of Words,' Or 'poetry Is The Linguistic Correction Of Disorder.'

With The First Step, The Number Of Shapes The Walk Might Take Is Infinite, But Then The Walk Begins To Define Itself As It Goes Along, Though Freedom Remains Total With Each Step: Any Tempting Side Road Can Be Turned Into An Impulse, Or Any Wild Patch Of Woods Can Be Explored. The Pattern Of The Walk Is To Come True, Is To Be Recognized, Discovered.

I Take The Walk To Be The Externalization Of An Interior Seeking So That The Analogy Is First Of All Between The External And The Internal.

Definition, Rationality, And Structure Are Ways Of Seeing, But They Become Prisons When They Blank Out Other Ways Of Seeing.