“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
“Sometimes people come up and they get infatuated with some little brief imagistic poem or something, and they say, "Oh, I really like your Zen poems." And I say, "Which ones are not Zen poems?"” PeopleLittlesSometimesLike YouCome UpInfatuatedReally Like You Author:Sam Hamill
“It would be nice if all the Republicans could put poetry in a little box and put the box under the bed and sit on it, but they can't.” IfsLittlesWould BeNiceRepublicanBedBoxesBeing Nice Author:Sam Hamill
