All of a sudden I understand why I like Aliki Barnstones poems so much. They remind me of the one she has studied most - shall we call her her master…

- Gerald Stern

I've been trying to come to terms with what I am and what I do and what I believe in. And I see that I'm not happy with - well, it's almost as if bei…

- Gerald Stern

Humor is not funny. Humor is something else. Funny is a joke, sometimes silly. Comedy is deep and connected to tragedy; comedy could be deeper than t…

- Gerald Stern

I feel that my job, as an artist, is to disturb the peace. And to disturb it intellectually, linguistically, politically and literally.

- Gerald Stern

The cave is a dark, shadowy place. It's a place that's very close and yet distant at the same time, and it's a place of revelation and isolation. You…

- Gerald Stern

I will look at the footprints going in and out of the water and dream up a small blue good to talk to.

- Gerald Stern

Political means so many things. We are political willy-nilly. Political poetry is an easy invitation to disaster. But then so is love poetry. But we …

- Gerald Stern

Sometimes a person thinks he's attached to one thing and he's really attached to something else.

- Gerald Stern

The artist looks for a subject. You know, a lot of new poets don't seem to have a subject. I don't totally understand that.

- Gerald Stern