... sometimes I can feel it, the way we are pouring slowly toward a curve and around it through something dark and soft, and we are bound to each other.
Sharon OldsRead
Poems come from ordinary experiences and objects, I think. Out of memory - a dress I lent my daughter on her way back to college; a newspaper photograph of war; a breast self-exam; the tooth fairy; Calvinist parents who beat up their children; a gesture of love; seeing oneself naked over age 50 in a set of bright hotel bathroom mirrors.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Poetry is inspired by everyday life and experiences.
In this quote, Sharon Olds expresses the idea that poetry springs from common experiences and objects in our lives. She illustrates how various moments, objects, and memories—from personal relationships to mundane activities—serve as the foundation for her poetic inspiration, emphasizing that poetry is deeply rooted in the ordinary aspects of life.
Themes
PoetryExperienceMemoryOrdinaryExpression
In practice
Example use cases
In a workshop about creative writing, one might say this quote to encourage participants to draw inspiration from their daily lives.
More from Sharon Olds
All quotes →Maybe in order to understand sex fully/one has to risk being destroyed by it.
Sharon OldsRead
Similar quotes
Got a head full of lightning, a hat full of rain.
Tom WaitsRead
The dignity of the artist lies in his duty of keeping awake the sense of wonder in the world. In this long vigil he often has to vary his methods of stimulation; but in this long vigil he is also himself striving against a continual tendency to sleep.
Marc ChagallRead
I think that if we really want to break it down, that non-black filmmakers have had many, many years and many, many opportunities to tell many, many stories about themselves, and black filmmakers have not had as many years, as many opportunities, as many films to explore the nuances of our reality.
Ava DuvernayRead
There were some advantages to being a woman photographer. I think women have more empathy with the subject.
Annie LeibovitzRead
The publicity image steals her love of herself as she is, and offers it back to her for the price of the product.
John BergerRead
I am installed in a fairylike place. I do not know where to poke my head; everything is superb, and I would like to do everything, so I use up and squander lots of color, for there are trials to be made.
Claude MonetRead