---
title: "1 Focus Poet Quotes By Yusef Komunyakaa"
description: "1 Focus Poet quotes by Yusef Komunyakaa. Plus more from Yusef Komunyakaa and more Focus Poet sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54c/yusef-komunyakaa-16756_focus_i-m-uncomfortable-with-the-focus-on-the_2376707.png"
---

> [I'm uncomfortable with the focus on the poet and not on the poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-m-uncomfortable-with-the-focus-on-the-poet-and-not-on-the-poem/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54c/yusef-komunyakaa-16756_focus_i-m-uncomfortable-with-the-focus-on-the_2376707.png)

## More by Yusef Komunyakaa

> [It took me 14 years to write poems about Vietnam. I had never thought about writing about it, and in a way I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/it-took-me-14-years-to-write-poems-about-vietnam-i-had-never-thought/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [I see many black males grasping for some thread of hope. There are so many destructive practices, glimpses into a psychic abyss. That must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-see-many-black-males-grasping-for-some-thread-of-hope-there-are-so/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [“Title: Blue Light Lounge Sutra For The Performance Poets At Harold Park Hotel the need gotta be so deep words can't answer simple questions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/title-blue-light-lounge-sutra-for-the-performance-poets-at-harold/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [“Foolhearted mindreader, help us see how the heart begs, how fangs of opprobrium possess our eyes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/foolhearted-mindreader-help-us-see-how-the-heart-begs-how-fangs-of/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [I like connecting the abstract to the concrete. There's a tension in that. I believe the reader or listener should be able to enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-like-connecting-the-abstract-to-the-concrete-there-s-a-tension-in/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [Whoever said men hit harder when women are around, is right. Word for word, we beat the love out of each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/whoever-said-men-hit-harder-when-women-are-around-is-right-word-for/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [I think of language as our first music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-think-of-language-as-our-first-music/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [I think of my poems as personal and public at the same time. You could say they serve as psychological overlays. One fits on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-think-of-my-poems-as-personal-and-public-at-the-same-time-you-could/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [“In the old days, the general's ribbons / & medals rainbowed across his chest, / & if he were interrogating himself, / by now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/in-the-old-days-the-general-s-ribbons-medals-rainbowed-across-his/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [Blue is the insides of something mysterious and lonely. I'd look at fish and birds, thinking the sky and water colored them. The first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/blue-is-the-insides-of-something-mysterious-and-lonely-i-d-look-at/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [“The Way the Cards Fall " Why did you stay away so long? I’ve buried another husband, since I last saw you holding to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/the-way-the-cards-fall-why-did-you-stay-away-so-long-i-ve-buried/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [Vietnam helped me to look at the horror and terror in the hearts of people and realize how we can't aim guns and set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/vietnam-helped-me-to-look-at-the-horror-and-terror-in-the-hearts-of/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/it-wasn-t-a-deliberate-decision-to-become-a-poet-it-was-something-i/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [“My doors enter from the sidestreet, my windows painted basement black, my mouth kisses the blues harp, my heart hides like notes locked in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/my-doors-enter-from-the-sidestreet-my-windows-painted-basement-black/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

> [Cursing themselves in ragged dreamsfire has singed the edges of,they know a slow dying the fields have come to terms with.Shimmering fans work against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/cursing-themselves-in-ragged-dreamsfire-has-singed-the-edges-of-they/)

[Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/)

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