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Poetry isn't a profession, it's a way of life. It's an empty basket; you put your life into it and make something out of that.

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the stars began to burnthrough the sheets of clouds,and there was a new voicewhich you slowlyrecognized as your own

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When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

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Athletes take care of their bodies. Writers must similarly take care of the sensibility that houses the possibility of poems. There is nourishment in ...more

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Because of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as love the dog of our own ...more

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Still, what I want in my lifeis to be willingto be dazzled—to cast aside the weight of factsand maybe evento float a littleabove this difficult world.

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Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

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Animals praise a good day, a good hunt. They praise rain if they're thirsty. That's prayer. They don't live an unconscious life, they simply have no l...more

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Language is rich, and malleable. It is a living, vibrant material, and every part of a poem works in conjunction with every other part - the content, ...more

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When it's over, I want to say: all my lifeI was a bride married to amazement.I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it is over, I d...more

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You do not have to be good.You do not have to walk on your kneesfor a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.You only have to let the soft animal...more

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To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it;...more

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I know many lives worth living.

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Sometimes I dreamthat everything in the world is here, in my room, in a great closet, named and orderly,and I am here too, in front of it, hardly able...more

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People want poetry. They need poetry. They get it. They don't want fancy work.