“To me, a poem is almost like someone whispering to another person, or you hear the whispering in your head. I hope with my own poems that the reader feels a connection, soul to soul, that'll help us all feel a little less alone on the planet. And it does have the power to direct change. A writer can make the word 'dark' be something positive. You can relieve a word like 'hysterical' of its misogynistic implications. You can make the language your own. That's what poetry is about.” FeelsLittlesPersonsDoeSoulHelpingLanguageDarkMy OwnPlanetsReaderDirectConnectionsPoetry IsImplicationsWhisperingHysterical Author:Rita Dove
“My best times are midnight to six actually. I'll leaf through my notebooks and if something catches my eye and I feel like I want to transfer it from the notebook to the page, I do, and then comes this very strange process which is difficult to describe in that I'll write until I get stuck or I can't go any further or I'm boring myself or whatever and then I might go to another poem.” IfsWantFeelsWritingI CanMightEyeProcessDifficultStrangeSixPagesBoringStuckLeafsMidnightNotebookTransfersBest Times Author:Rita Dove
“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.” PeopleThinkingFeelsWritingTryingKindMayMeanOrderProcessResponsibilityAudienceCreativeDangerousProveGuiltFinishedRevelationsCollectivesCreative ProcessHauntingHurtfulSense Of ResponsibilityTreading Author:Rita Dove
“If our children are unable to voice what they mean, no one will know how they feel. If they can’t imagine a different world, they are stumbling through a darkness made all the more sinister by its lack of reference points. For a young person growing up in America’s alienated neighborhoods, there can be no greater empowerment than to dare to speak from the heart — and then to discover that one is not alone in ones feelings.” IfsKnowsWorldFeelsHeartMeanChildrenPersonsMadeDifferentFeelingsAmericaYoungSpeakVoiceDarknessKnow HowGrowing UpGreaterGrowingImagineEmpowermentOur ChildrenDareNeighborhoodNot AloneDifferent WorldsSinisterStumblingSpeak From The Heart Author:Rita Dove
“From the time I began to read, as a child, I loved to feel their heft in my hand and the warm spot caused by their intimate weight in my lap; I loved the crisp whisper of a page turning, the musky odor of old paper and the sharp inky whiff of new pages. Leather bindings sent me into ecstasy. I even loved to gaze at a closed book and daydream about the possibilities inside.” FeelsChildrenBookHandsPossibilityPaperPagesWeightWarmSpotsIntimateEcstasyLapLeatherDaydreamingBindingCrispsOdorPages Turning Book:Selected poems Source: Selected poems
“The poetry that sustains me is when I feel that, for a minute, the clouds have parted and I've seen ecstasy or something” FeelsMinutesCloudsEcstasy Book:Conversations with Rita Dove Source: Conversations with Rita Dove
“I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day.” FeelsColorPicksFolders Author:Rita Dove
“We should always do something that makes us feel like a child again. Keep learning, no matter what it is.” FeelsShouldChildrenMatterNo Matter WhatKeep Learning Author:Rita Dove
