The citizens (Herbert)

the citizens
don't want to defend themselves
they are attending accelerated courses
on falling to the knees

Zbigniew Herbert, from "Mr Cogito on Upright Attitudes"

Opinion

I would rather have ten unpopular opinions than one factually erroneous one.

Always

Absolutists are always wrong.

Words

Words are the rust of the poem.

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Most of the way

I can write my way most of the way there.

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Better

Better to think of the first day on the last day than to think of the last day on the first day.

How we celebrate

How we celebrate those who fail to fail!

More than

Be sure to chew more than you can bite off.

They are such fools (Cicero)

They are such fools that they seem to expect that, though the Republic is lost, their fish-ponds will be safe.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, Letters to Atticus, Book I, 18

The hardest thing

Perhaps the hardest thing is to recalibrate.

But

Life is good but living is hard.

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Ever been constrained

And when has desire ever been constrained by possibility?

Doesn't mean

That the mountain is unforgiving doesn't mean it isn't sympathetic.

Always

Consent is always provisional.

Into the dark den

I don't respect most other poets working today because they haven't gone into the dark den to confront poetry where it lives.

Always, for everything

Hold everybody accountable, always, for everything.

Our own nonsense

Poets don't really care about other poets' nonsense. We are utterly consumed by our own nonsense.