I think tension between the intimate and the vast is at the heart of every poem by any poet, though of course the terms with which it is explored var…

- Tracy K. Smith

So much of my poetry begins with something that I can describe in visual terms, so thinking about distance, thinking about how life begins and what m…

- Tracy K. Smith

time never stops, but does it end? and how many livesbefore take-off, before we find ourselves beyond ourselves, all glam-glow, all twinkle and gold?

- Tracy K. Smith

Often it is a moment rather than an event that makes a poem.

- Tracy K. Smith

For me, a poem is an opportunity to kind of interrogate myself a little bit.

- Tracy K. Smith

Once I started writing all the time and interacting with poets, I made a conscious decision to identify myself as a poet. It's funny how much a singl…

- Tracy K. Smith

We are here for what amounts to a few/hours,/a day at most./We feel around making sense of the terrain,/our own new limbs,/Bumping up against a herd …

- Tracy K. Smith

Everything that disappears/Disappears as if returning somewhere

- Tracy K. Smith

I've been beating my head all day long on the same six lines.

- Tracy K. Smith