Every trail
Every trail is a trial; every trial is a trail.
Labels: thought
The great thing about poetry is that it is simply not 'commodifiable.' Materially speaking, it’s worthless in this culture. There’s very, very little money to be made from writing poetry. In that way, it’s subversive since anyone can steal it. Anyone can take it. Anyone can learn it by heart. Anyone can whisper it, can carry it into a jail, through borders, across all sorts of state lines. Poetry is that which can be carried anywhere. It’s invisible. And that makes it very, very precious in a culture where everything has a price. It still has a purity. It has not been co-opted. And as I say, a poet wants you to learn his or her poem by heart. They want you to copy it. They want you to steal their work. There’s no greater pleasure than knowing that somebody has taped your poem to the refrigerator door or sent it to five friends. That’s the greatest joy in poetry, having it passed around and read and heard.
—Marie Howe
—Marie Howe
Friday, August 10, 2007
