Poetry is a process of getting back to the unconscious. Hence, I am always writing-even when I'm not facing the white space. I feel writers are like reservoirs of images. We take in what is around us.
Interpretation
Poetry taps into our unconscious thoughts and feelings, allowing us to express what we observe around us even when not actively writing.
In this quote, Yusef Komunyakaa emphasizes the idea that poetry is not just a conscious act of writing but a deeper process of connecting with the unconscious mind. He likens writers to reservoirs, collecting experiences and images from their surroundings, which enrich their creative process, suggesting that inspiration is constantly flowing, even in times of inactivity.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a poetry workshop to inspire budding poets.
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.
It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.
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.
Like I can't cry for myself so I will let this song take all of the things inside I can't let anyone else see and offer it up, as if the sound were some kind of god, and my pain is some kind of sacrifice.
Work is what you do for others, liebchen. Art is what you do for yourself.
Poetry is something to make us wiser and better, by continually revealing those types of beauty and truth, which God has set in all men's souls.
Luck is everything... My good luck in life was to be a really frightened person. I'm fortunate to be a coward, to have a low threshold of fear, because a hero couldn't make a good suspense film.
I tend to believe that film can try to save what still can be saved, in terms of our histories, our memories. Because a lot of things are disappearing very quickly, things are changing. We are living in very quick times, and we have a new generation who basically know nothing about events 30 years ago.
The page is long, blank, and full of truth. When I am through with it, it shall probably be long, full, and empty with words.
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