It is the misfortune of poetry, to be seldom safely enjoyed by those who enjoy it completely.
Poetry has always been made to seem kind of cultish. But the truth is, everybody really loves it! It's much more mainstream than anyone thought.
I'm not a great poetry fan.
Soyinka's Death at Dawn, Auden's Musée des Beaux Arts, Stevie Smith's Not Waving but Drowning and Wislawa Szymborska's Some People come to mind immediately. But there are plenty, plenty more that I enjoy.
I think poetry is best read to oneself.
There are interesting forms of difficulty, and there are unprofitable forms of difficulty. I mean, I enjoy some difficult poetry, but some of it is impenetrable and I actually wouldn't want to penetrate it if I could, perhaps.
The biggest problem is people are afraid of poetry, think they can't understand it or that it will be boring.
I've been surprised to learn how many people love poetry. It's beautiful to see that people want poetry in their lives.
What is the point of narrating poetry when the listener can't appreciate and enjoy the meaning?
I love chapbooks. They're in some ways the ideal form in which to publish and read poems. You can read 19 poems in a way you can't sit down and read 60 to 70 pages of poems.
