46 Quotes by John Barton

The experiment of the poem is mostly intuitive. I write the first draft, pulling in the various elements that interest me, in the hope that their being combined will lead to some kind of insight.

We are comfortable with the fact that we cannot know personally what happened in the world before we were born, yet we are uncomfortable with the notion that we will stop engaging with time at some point in the future.

You can never step into the same book twice, because you are different each time you read it.

To me many short poems read and write like beginnings that simply whet my appetite; I want to get over that.

I sometimes like to tinker with poems that have failed, ones that I have sent aside. Even years afterward, I will revisit them if there is something about them that I cannot give up on.

These companies will compete to be picked, and we'll pick whoever offers the package that better benefits the patient.

Sometimes poetry is inspired by the conversation entered into by reading other poems.

Some readers allow their prejudices to blind them. A good reader knows how to disregard inappropriate responses.

An experienced reader uses the poem as an agent of inquiry. This makes poetry very exciting, unstable, and interactive.