“Poetry is meant to inspire readers and listeners, to connect them more deeply to…” — Edward Hirsch

The sense of flowing, which is so crucial to song, is also crucial to poetry.

I started writing poetry as a teenager in suburban Chicago out of emotional desperation.

I didn't read poetry seriously until college, when I really began to devour it in a very intense way. I also discovered that a poet is a maker. Before that, I thought a poet was someone who wrote about his own experiences.

The line is a way of framing poetry. All verse is measured by lines. The poetic line immediately announces its difference from everyday speech and prose.