“A poetic list is a talent in itself. You can write a list of things, and it can be boring.” Quote by Pattiann Rogers
“As far as I can tell, writing the essays didn't change the way I wrote poetry. Although the essays contain scattered passages that might be called lyrical, they often contain closed statements of what is only suggested in the poetry.” WayWritingI CanMightStatementsPassagesEssaysLyrical Author:Pattiann Rogers
“Poetry doesn't function by saying things straightforwardly because the language is too imprecise, too limited often, to address the underlying subject of most poems.” LanguageSubjectsFunctionAddresses Author:Pattiann Rogers
“Often when I write poetry I don't quite know what I'm saying myself. I mean, I can't restate the poem. The meaning of the poem is the poem.” KnowsWritingMeanI Can Author:Pattiann Rogers
“My object when writing prose is to write as clearly as possible. I think I know what I'm saying in prose, and I want others to understand it and to be able to restate it.” ThinkingKnowsWantWritingAbleObjectsProse Author:Pattiann Rogers
“The greatest tragedy that can befall a poet is to be praised by being misunderstood.” PoetTragedyMisunderstoodBeing Misunderstood Author:Pattiann Rogers
“People sometimes think that defining a term is pedantic and useless, but terms need to be defined if they're going to be discussed, even if the terms are only defined for a single conversation. Those involved in the conversation need to know how the terms are being used.” PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsNeedsSometimesUsedTermKnow HowInvolvedConversationDefinedUselessDefiningPedantic Author:Pattiann Rogers
“I approach writing a poem in a much different state than when I am writing prose. It's almost as if I were working in a different language when I'm writing poetry. The words - what they are and what they can become - the possibilities of the words are vastly expanded for me when I'm writing a poem.” IfsWritingDifferentStatesLanguagePossibilityApproachProseWriting PoetryDifferent Languages Author:Pattiann Rogers
“I'd rather call prose poems something else, for clarity - something like "poetic prose," prose that contains a quality of poetry, but not poems.” QualityClarityProsePoetic Author:Pattiann Rogers
“To my mind, most prose poems are more prose than poetry. They don't possess most of the qualities of a poem.” MindQualityProse Author:Pattiann Rogers
“One of the most important differences I see between prose and poetry is the music of the language.” ImportantLanguageDifferencesProsePoetry IsProse And Poetry Author:Pattiann Rogers