I don't think poetry needs to be "easily understandable." First of all, there are often complexities of syntax, form, unfamiliar absences, etc., that require a deeper concentration than is usually demanded of us. So that, right off the bat, is… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share Image
It is funny, and also a bit sad, that poets are so often asked to justify our vocation. There seems to be something vaguely… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
The question does arise if how and why to write poetry in this time. It feels both completely essential and also quite difficult. But… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
That name, SUN BEAR, just sounds like an ideogram to me. Super resonant. By the way, this all might be related to Tomaž Šalamun's… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
Music and songs have always been a constant part of my life, and still are. My brother Michael, who is a songwriter and composer,… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
My own experience as a reader and writer has been that the more I read, and the more I live, the more different "types"… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
Thinking in prose is different. I gained an immense amount of respect for people who write prose, and also felt even more sure that… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
Something can be symbolic without being a mere stand-in or vessel, which just brings us away from the true mystery and dread, into some… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
It may very well be that we have entered another time when most poets will feel compelled to use poetry to stop things from… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
The speaker tentatively reaches out with that feeling and realizes that it's kind of absurd, or at least a dangerous consolation, which is what… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
I've noticed that there can be a visceral reaction to strong statements about poetry, as if anyone who has an opinion and expresses it… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
Somewhere back a whiskey or so ago I wrote that thinking was a real thing in the world, just like anything else. I mean… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
If freedom in the imagination is a privilege, it's one I believe everyone should have, as a basic human right. I also believe that… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
So for whatever reason those short lines just felt right to me, in my physical self. They were right for the movement of the… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
I wanted to write not exclusively for (or against) poets or scholars, though many of them are people, too! But that was not my… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
Reading a poem is a real thing, a worthy thing. So to be there right with the reader at that moment is part of… — Matthew Zapruder Copy Share
