“Each of us as poets, as decent suffering human beings, has to find a way to run our lives that is compassionate toward one another and toward our environment.” WayHumansRunningSufferingHuman BeingsEnvironmentOur LivesPoetDecentCompassionateOur Environment Author:Sam Hamill
“All I'd ever heard my entire life in my family was, "Nobody wanted you, and we took you in." When you get that into your head at a tender age, you really feel like you are an unlovable human being, and then you behave like one. That's exactly what I had done. It took me many years to deal with my own violence and find my own niche.” FeelsYearsHumansDoneAgeWantedMy OwnHuman BeingsDealsViolenceHeardLike YouMy FamilyBehaveNicheUnlovable Author:Sam Hamill
“I wrote a number of poems about Kah Tai lagoon, when Safeway was building that huge, ugly store down there where I used to love to watch the birds nest. That political poem, or environmental poem, was unsuccessful because Safeway built there anyway. And yet the poem has something to say today, as it did then. And I speak here only of my own poems. The agenda for every poet has to be different because most of us write from direct human experience in the world.” WorldWritingHumansDifferentTodayPoliticalUsedSpeakMy OwnNumbersWatchesBuildingPoetHugeBirdBuiltDirectEnvironmentalUglyStoresAgendasHuman ExperienceNestsUnsuccessfulUsed To LoveLagoons Author:Sam Hamill
“Nothing will change until we demolish the "we-they" mentality. We are human, and therefore all human concerns are ours. And those concerns are personal.” HumansHumanityConcernMentalityDemolish Author:Sam Hamill
