hearing the voice...
Poems do not endure as objects but as presences. When you read anything worth remembering, you liberate a human voice; you release into the world again a companion spirit.
I read poems to hear that voice. And I write to speak to those I have heard.
Louise Glück
from “Death and Absence,” Proofs & Theories
5 comments:
I love understanding the motivation to write. It's such a strange act, a sort of "if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it" act.
I especially it when writers talk about the need for companionship through the word - but it isn't as easy making pals. It's about companionship of the spirit and mind, of a shared understanding of the world.
I love Gluck; met her at a reading once. She was so gracious.
The more I write - the more I read - the more I focus on the voice. First. If the voice isn't right, the poem won't follow, can't follow.
Thanks for the read Melissa.
I love this quote. And I agree with it wholeheartedly.
Just the sort of thing I needed to see today.
Thanks Peter and Emilie for the read and comment.
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