Rita Dove and Safiya Sinclair Talk About Art
"Every week, Rita’s feedback would consist of a single-spaced page-and-a-half typed letter. She taught me that it’s OK to say a thing plainly, whereas my impulse is to be ornate and lush. I think about that all the time, the importance of trusting the simplicity of an image and letting it do the work on its own. It’s strange how sometimes writing gives you this high, like you’ve scratched the vein of God, and then the next day, there’s maybe one line there."
via THE NEW YORK TIMES |
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What Sparks Poetry:
Melissa Kwasny on "Sleeping with the Cedars"
"Most of us are frightened of the future and grief stricken at what humans have done to the earth. As I see it, one of the unique tasks of poets, especially at this time, is to be in imaginative relation with the Earth. And to use language as a tool toward that effort. To have an imaginative—as opposed to an abstract or intellectual—relationship with the earth is to be in attendance to what Denise Levertov called 'other forms of life that want to live.'" |
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Write with Poetry Daily This April, to celebrate National Poetry Month, we'll share popular writing prompts from our "What Sparks Poetry" essay series each morning. Write along with us!Visit a public work of art or memorial that is significant to you. Pay attention to the people who walk, talk, or shout around you. Pay attention to the source of light. Combine or contrast two seemingly unalike or unrelated images. Remember why the site is important—not only to you, but to the people and the environment you inhabit—try capturing that feeling. |
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