"I've been most happy to be an advocate for the kinds of grassroots things that people are doing who ..." — Natasha Trethewey

I think the biggest thing that I have to do is to remind people that poetry is there for us to turn to not only to remind us that we're not alone - for example, if we are grieving the loss of someone - but also to help us celebrate our joys. That's why so many people I know who've gotten married will have a poem read at the wedding.

Even though I am the daughter of a poet, and my stepmother is also a poet, growing up, I didn't think I could understand poetry; I didn't think that it had any relevance to my life, the feelings that I endured on a day-to-day basis, until I was introduced to the right poem.

The experience of poetry could bring my mother back to me. Poetry offers a different kind of solace - here on earth.

Dismissals of poetry are nothing new. It's easy to dismiss poetry if one has not read much of it.