“The war in Afghanistan was fought for feminist reasons, and the Marines were really on this feminist mission. But today, all the women in all these countries have been driven back into medieval situations. Women who were liberated, women who were doctors and lawyers and poets and writers and - you know, pushed back into this Shia set against Sunnis. The U.S. is supporting al-Qaeda militias all over this region and pretending that it's fighting Islam. So we are in a situation that is psychopathic.” KnowsHas BeensWarCountryReasonTodayFightingSituationPoetDoctorsIslamFeministMissionsDrivenLawyerRegionsAlsPretendingAfghanistanMarineMedievalLiberatedAl QaedaMilitiaShiaPsychopathicLiberated Woman Author:Arundhati Roy
“I must say what I admire most is the person who masters an area of practical experience, and can teach me something. I mean, my local midwife has taught me how to keep bees. Well, she can't understand anything I write. And I find myself liking her, may I say, more than most poets. And among my friends I find people who know all about boats or know all about certain sports, or how to cut somebody open and remove an organ. I'm fascinated by this mastery of the practical.” PeopleKnowsWritingWellsMayMeanPersonsCertainSportsTeachCuttingTaughtPoetMastersMy FriendsAreasPracticalsLocalsAdmireBoatRemoveFascinatedMasteryOrgansBeesMidwifePractical Experience Author:Sylvia Plath
“When poets die, other poets take it personally, almost as an affront. A lot of us "left behind" are thinking that poetry is the one thing keeping us alive and present, so what does it mean when one of our ranks chooses to end his or her life? There's an anger beneath the grief, you know? That anger and grief, in turn, breeds other poems from those of us left behind.” ThinkingKnowsMeanDoeEndsDiesTurnsLeftGriefBehindsAliveOne ThingPoetPoetry IsLeft BehindAffront Author:Allison Joseph
“Social media is alluring, tempting, frustrating, etc. We mistake our interactions in social media as community, but is community possible when you don't even know what someone looks like or what his or her voice sounds like? I've enjoyed connecting with a lot of poets through social media, but do I truly know them if I haven't even met them yet?” IfsKnowsLooksSocialSoundVoiceCommunityMistakeMediaHavensPoetMetsSocial MediaEnjoyedEtcInteractionFrustratingConnectingTemptingAlluring Author:Allison Joseph
“I know that in a poem, even when the speaker is speaking from the poet's experience, there's always something that's borrowed, some authority that sits outside of the poet that the poem has claimed. There's a dramatic pitch that makes the speaker capable of saying something more courageous or stranger or simply other than what the poet would be able to say.” KnowsWould BeAblePoetAuthorityCapableStrangerDramaticCourageousSpeakersBorrowed Author:Tracy K. Smith
“A friend of mine, a poet, Rebecca Wolff recently said to me, "You know, your stories are really voice-driven," and I guess I knew that already, but it's so true that I can't get something going unless I can hear the voice.” KnowsSaidI CanStoriesVoiceMinesPoetDrivenRebecca Author:Lynne Tillman
“The formal stuff feels old and windy. Not to say you shouldn't know prosody. But it's a wonderful time for exploratory poetics. Contemporary poets are inventing all kinds of wild, complex shapes for poetry, as we see. It's a wonderful time, less ego-centered.” KnowsFeelsKindStuffWonderfulPoetShapesEgoComplexesContemporaryAll KindsFormalInventingWindyWonderful TimesProsody Author:Anne Waldman
“There exist only three beings worthy of respect: the priest, the soldier, the poet. To know, to kill, to create.” KnowsThreePoetRespectDignitySoldierWorthyPriestsPoetic Author:Charles Baudelaire
“Why do people want to know exactly who I am? Am I a poet? Am I this or that? I've always made people wary. First they called me a rock poet. Then I was a poet that dabbled in rock. Then I was a rock person who dabbled in art.” PeopleKnowsWantFirstsPersonsArtMadeRocksPoetWho I Am Author:Patti Smith
“A poet must be a psychologist, but a secret one: he should know and feel the roots of phenomena but present only the phenomena themselves in full bloom or as they fade away.” KnowsFeelsShouldSecretPoetRootsFadesPsychologistFade Away Book:Essential Turgenev Source: Essential Turgenev
“I want to be a poet and have a chance to explore that and let people know what's really on my mind.” PeopleKnowsWantMindChancePoet Author:Christina Aguilera
“Does it mean this, does it mean that, that's all anybody wants to know. I'd say what any decent poet would say if anyone dared ask him to analyze his work: if you see it, darling, then it's there!” IfsKnowsWantMeanDoeAsksPoetDecentDarling Author:Freddie Mercury
“A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. By using words well they strengthen their souls. Story-tellers and poets spend their lives learning that skill and art of using words well. And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.” KnowsWayWritingWellsMeanPersonsArtSoulStoriesUseCarePoetReaderSkillsStrongerDelightDeeperWho CaresBrighterLife LearningUsing Words Author:Ursula K. Le Guin