Ars Poetica #100: I Believe by Elizabeth Alexander
Poetry, I tell my students,
is idiosyncratic. Poetry
is where we are ourselves,
(though Sterling Brown said
“Every ‘I’ is a dramatic ‘I’”)
digging in the clam flats
for the shell that snaps,
emptying the proverbial pocketbook.
Poetry is what you find
in the dirt in the corner,
overhear on the bus, God
in the details, the only way
to get from here to there.
Poetry (and now my voice is rising)
is not all love, love, love,
and I’m sorry the dog died.
Poetry (here I hear myself loudest)
is the human voice,
and are we not of interest to each other?
Art by Lydia Nichols
Recommended listening: This Is I - Juan Wauters
Links of the Day: A vending machine for books
16th Century Tube Passengers Sickhouse: The first Snapchat Movie Memento Mori Interview with poet Rohan Chhetri (for Scroll)
Art & Found’s 15 For 15th: A Perfect Guide To Buying Indian Art For Your Home