When these idiot rightwingers start complaining about poetry being political, I'm fond of reciting Sappho to them, who excluded men from her world. W…

- Sam Hamill

Poetry transcends the nation-state. Poetry transcends government. It brings the traditional concept of power to its knees. I have always believed poe…

- Sam Hamill

I was a violent, self-destructive teenager, who was adopted right at the end of World War II. I was lied to and abused by my parents. I hated life in…

- Sam Hamill

There's a fragment that goes, "Some say the most beautiful thing in the world is a great cavalry riding down over the hill. Others say it's a vast in…

- Sam Hamill

The only thing we all agree on, virtually every poet in this country, is that this Administration is really frightening, and we want something done a…

- Sam Hamill

Nothing will change until we demolish the "we-they" mentality. We are human, and therefore all human concerns are ours. And those concerns are person…

- Sam Hamill

What poetry does above all else is develop sensibility. And that's what makes poetry so dangerous. That's why poetry is so good at undermining govern…

- Sam Hamill

Most of the ugly wars in history have been wars of religion. And there's nothing more dangerous than someone with religious certitude who creates con…

- Sam Hamill

My ethics, my sense of morality, my work ethic, my sense of compassion for suffering humanity, all of that comes directly out of the practice of poet…

- Sam Hamill