It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.
Interpretation
The journey to becoming a poet can be natural and spontaneous rather than a planned choice.
In this quote, Yusef Komunyakaa reflects on the organic and often unintentional process of becoming a poet. He expresses how poetry is not merely a career choice but a passion that emerged naturally within him, highlighting the deep connection between language and personal fulfillment, likening his love for words to an addiction that enriches his life.
In practice
In a workshop on creative writing, one could use this quote to inspire students to embrace their spontaneous creativity.
Students often have such a lofty idea of what a poem is, and I want them to realize that their own lives are where the poetry comes from. The most important things are to respect the language; to know the classical rules, even if only to break them; and to be prepared to edit, to revise, to shape.
We have to embrace the good over the bad. That has to be one's personal project.
I originally wanted to embrace the imagery and forthrightness of rap music. There are some interesting, dynamic voices in rap. But I find most of it irresponsible in its overt violence and commercialization of anger. As artists, we believe we can will action through language. If that's the case, we have to take responsibility for what we say.
I'm uncomfortable with the focus on the poet and not on the poem.
Poetry helps me understand who I am. It helps me understand the world around me. But above all, what poetry has taught me is the fact that I need to embrace mystery in order to be completely human.
Tonight I feel the stars are out_x000D_ to use me for target practice.
As far as I'm concerned, freedom is the most important thing to creativity. You should feel free to write in whatever way, whatever language, feels comfortable to you.
When I made my first film, I think the thing was probably helped me the most was that it was such an unusual thing to do in the early 50s for someone who actually go and make a film. People thought it was impossible. It really is terribly easy. All anybody needs is a camera, a tape recorder, and some imagination.
They both changed the way we hear the sound of the piano, both of them inventors of sonority: Chopin took bel canto singing lines and reproduced them on the keyboard above richly upholstered counterpoint; Debussy somehow preserved vibrations in the air, blending their ephemeral magic into music that reaches far back into deep memory.
What is portraiture? It's choice. It's the ability to position your body in the world for the world to celebrate you on your own terms.
For my art, there is a common theme most of the time: it is using the things we can see to search for the world we cannot see.
Every single thing you see on-screen came out of somebody's creativity. It doesn't exist. Nature didn't deliver it to us. Everything had to be dreamed.
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