“Korea's first Zen Master-poet wrote simple yet elegant poetry of the world he inhabited, both physically and spiritually, and of daily insights-a pause along the way for a deep clear breath, a moon-viewing moment, a seasonal note or a farewell poem to a departing monk. His poems speak softly and clearly, like hearing a temple bell that was struck a thousand years ago.” WorldWayYearsFirstsMomentsSpeakSimpleClearPoetMastersThousandMoonYears AgoBreathsNotesInsightHearingTemplesBellsThousand YearsPausesFarewellElegantMonkKoreaZen MasterDepartingSpeak Softly Author:Sam Hamill
“I can remember, I think it was 1967, sitting in the First Unitarian Church in Isla Vista, Santa Barbara, and seeing Phil Levine come out on the little stage. He sat on the edge and said, "You know, sometimes it's hard not to hate my country for the way I feel, at times, but I won't let that happen." And then he read, "They Feed They Lion," this incredibly powerful, incantatory poem that was inspired in part by the burning of Detroit in 1967 and the riots that followed.” ThinkingKnowsWayFeelsFirstsLittlesSaidI CanCountrySometimesHardHappensRememberHateChurchPowerfulSeeingStageSittingInspiredEdgesBurningSatLionsSantaRiotDetroitBarbaraVistasUnitarianSanta BarbaraUnitarian Church Author:Sam Hamill
“Galway Kinnell came out with that wonderful big, breathy, hollow voice of his and read, for the first time in public, "The Bear." That poem impressed me so much that I memorized it. I used it for years when I taught in prisons. It's a powerful extended metaphor for what the writing life is really all about. It's a uniquely powerful poem about self-transformation, and that's what we're asking, really, beyond even our objection to the war. We're asking people to look at themselves and think about what might be possible with a little self-transformation.” PeopleThinkingWritingYearsFirstsLooksLittlesWarSelfBigsMightLife IsUsedVoicePowerfulWonderfulTaughtBearsFirst TimeTransformationAskingPrisonMetaphorImpressedWriting LifeHollowObjectionsSelf Transformation Author:Sam Hamill
“I'll say that this is probably the best time for poetry since the T'ang dynasty. All the rest of the world is going to school on American poetry in the twentieth century, from Ezra Pound to W. S. Merwin, and for very good reason. We have soaked up influence in the last century like a sponge. It's cross-pollination, first law of biology, that the more variety you have the more health you have.” WorldFirstsReasonSchoolLastsLawInfluenceCenturyCrossesVery GoodVarietyPoundsBiologyTwentieth CenturyBest TimesSpongesDynastyAmerican PoetryPollination Author:Sam Hamill
