Milton on speed. I am going to need about a decade to think about that. That delay in syntax, the putting off of the click of the sentence into itsel…

- Matthew Zapruder

Reading a poem is a real thing, a worthy thing. So to be there right with the reader at that moment is part of the effect of a title like "Poem for" …

- Matthew Zapruder

Thinking in prose is different. I gained an immense amount of respect for people who write prose, and also felt even more sure that the thinking part…

- Matthew Zapruder

Something can be symbolic without being a mere stand-in or vessel, which just brings us away from the true mystery and dread, into some boring versio…

- Matthew Zapruder

I personally believe the role of poets as poets (which is something different from our obligations as citizens, community members, humans) is to writ…

- Matthew Zapruder

I see sad crushed plastic everywhere and put some thoughts composed of words that do not belong together together and feel a little digital hope.

- Matthew Zapruder

All my closest friends came to me through poetry. My wife, too! Other than my family, poetry is the gravitational force of my life.

- Matthew Zapruder

That choice to be ready to reject all other purposes, in favor of the possibilities of language freed from utility, is when the writer becomes a poet.

- Matthew Zapruder

If freedom in the imagination is a privilege, it's one I believe everyone should have, as a basic human right. I also believe that poems not only mak…

- Matthew Zapruder