--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poets are sitting in my kitchen. Why do…" description: "\"Poets are sitting in my kitchen. Why do these poets lie? Why do children get children and Did you hear what it said?\" — Anne Sexton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/anne-sexton-645_children_poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-t_1568107.png" --- # Poets are sitting in my kitchen. Why do these poets lie?… ![“Poets are sitting in my kitchen. Why do these poets lie? Why do children get children and Did you hear what it said?” quote by Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/anne-sexton-645_children_poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-t_1568107.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/anne-sexton-645_children_poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-t_1568107.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/anne-sexton-645_children_poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-t_1568107.png) > “Poets are sitting in my kitchen. Why do these poets lie? Why do children get children and Did you hear what it said?” [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker questions the authenticity of poets and the innocence of children, reflecting doubt and confusion. **In simple terms:** Questioning truth in art and childhood. Key Takeaway Seek clarity, question assumptions. Themes identity truth innocence Mood contemplative uncertain Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - literary analysis - creative writing Key Concepts existential doubt artistic authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What makes you doubt their sincerity? - How does innocence affect perception? A Different Perspective Poets may be sincere despite doubts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Kitchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitchen/) [Kitchen Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitchen-poets-5896457/) [Lie Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lie-children-2473756/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets/) [Poets Lie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-lie-5349863/) [Poets Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-sitting-5896458/) [Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/said/) [Sitting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sitting/) ## Related quotes > [Plato said that poets should be excluded from the ideal republic because they are such liars. I am a poet, and I affirm that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/plato-said-that-poets-should-be-excluded-from-the-ideal-republic/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [You shouldn't let poets lie to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bjork/you-shouldn-t-let-poets-lie-to-you/) [Bjork](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bjork/) > [If you want to become a man of letters and perhaps write some Histories one day, you must also lie and invent tales, otherwise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/if-you-want-to-become-a-man-of-letters-and-perhaps-write-some/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Parents shouldn't lie to their children-not even when they think it's for their own good. Even a little lie is dangerous ...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/parents-shouldn-t-lie-to-their-children-not-even-when-they-think-it-s/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) > [I refuse to lie to children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maurice-sendak/i-refuse-to-lie-to-children/) [Maurice Sendak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-sendak/) > [A society in which adults are estranged from the world of children, and often from their own childhood, tends to hear children's speech only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrix-campbell/a-society-in-which-adults-are-estranged-from-the-world-of-children/) [Beatrix Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrix-campbell/) > [I lie to my children every day. Just little things to get them out the door when the school run is happening. White lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rochelle-humes/i-lie-to-my-children-every-day-just-little-things-to-get-them-out-the/) [Rochelle Humes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rochelle-humes/) > [“Unlike some other religions, we have never felt it served a higher purpose to lie to children about geology.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/unlike-some-other-religions-we-have-never-felt-it-served-a-higher/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [“Everything has become too easy for our young people, and we make things worse by lying to them. We don't help them face reality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafe-esquith/everything-has-become-too-easy-for-our-young-people-and-we-make/) [Rafe Esquith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafe-esquith/) > [“It's a mother's prerogative to lie about her children.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-thornton/it-s-a-mother-s-prerogative-to-lie-about-her-children/) [Marshall Thornton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-thornton/) > [Most poets are mad. It doesn't qualify us for anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/most-poets-are-mad-it-doesn-t-qualify-us-for-anything/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [These poets (fans of whatever) should be contacting other young poets on their way - not those who have made it, who sit on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/these-poets-fans-of-whatever-should-be-contacting-other-young-poets/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [One of my favorite poets, Neruda, writes close to the bone. Though I know only a little Spanish, I like to compare the Spanish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-diament/one-of-my-favorite-poets-neruda-writes-close-to-the-bone-though-i/) [Anita Diament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-diament/) > [Absolute is a game with only one player where Absolute forgets itself so it would have a reason to fulfill the motion while returning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/absolute-is-a-game-with-only-one-player-where-absolute-forgets-itself/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) > [Defeat furnishes good material to the poets and the artists, but none of us care to have the glory of the conquered apply to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-glaspell/defeat-furnishes-good-material-to-the-poets-and-the-artists-but-none/) [Susan Glaspell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-glaspell/) ## More by Anne Sexton > [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I am crazy as hell, but I know it. And knowing it is a kind of sanity that makes the sickness worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-am-crazy-as-hell-but-i-know-it-and-knowing-it-is-a-kind-of-sanity/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [And what of the dead? They lie without shoes in the stone boats. They are more like stone than the sea would be if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/and-what-of-the-dead-they-lie-without-shoes-in-the-stone-boats-they/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [The Witch's Life" When I was a child there was an old woman in our neighborhood whom we called The Witch. All day she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-witch-s-life-when-i-was-a-child-there-was-an-old-woman-in-our/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I have forgiven all the old actors for dying. A new one comes on with the same lines, like large white growths, in his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-have-forgiven-all-the-old-actors-for-dying-a-new-one-comes-on-with/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“From the Garden” Come, my beloved, consider the lilies. We are of little faith. We talk too much. Put your mouthful of words away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/from-the-garden-come-my-beloved-consider-the-lilies-we-are-of-little/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Oh thumb, I want a drink it is dark, where are the big people, when will I get there...?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/oh-thumb-i-want-a-drink-it-is-dark-where-are-the-big-people-when-will/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I want to kiss God on His nose and watch Him sneeze and so do you. Not out of disrespect. Out of pique. Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-want-to-kiss-god-on-his-nose-and-watch-him-sneeze-and-so-do-you-not/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I, in my brand new body, which was not a woman's yet, told the stars my questions and thought God could really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-in-my-brand-new-body-which-was-not-a-woman-s-yet-told-the-stars-my/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Father, you died once, salted down at fifty-nine, packed down like a big snow angel, wasn't that enough?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/father-you-died-once-salted-down-at-fifty-nine-packed-down-like-a-big/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/when-i-m-writing-i-know-i-m-doing-the-thing-i-was-born-to-do/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Cinderella and the prince lived, they say, happily ever after, like two dolls in a museum case never bothered by diapers or dust, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/cinderella-and-the-prince-lived-they-say-happily-ever-after-like-two/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“Quite collected at cocktail parties, meanwhile in my head I'm undergoing open-heart surgery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/quite-collected-at-cocktail-parties-meanwhile-in-my-head-i-m/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I cannot walk an inch / without trying to walk to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-cannot-walk-an-inch-without-trying-to-walk-to-god/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Now that I have written many words, and let out so many loves, for so many, and been altogether what I always was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/now-that-i-have-written-many-words-and-let-out-so-many-loves-for-so/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) [Explore all 428 Anne Sexton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) [Browse all 62,396 Children quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poets are sitting in my kitchen. Why do these poets lie? Why do children get children and Did you hear what it said?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anne Sexton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-these-poets-lie-why-do/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Children" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-these-poets-lie-why-do/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/anne-sexton-645_children_poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-t_1568107.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/anne-sexton-645_children_poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-t_1568107.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/anne-sexton-645_children_poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-t_1568107.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poets are sitting in my kitchen. Why do these poets lie? Why do children get children and Did you hear what…” — Anne Sexton", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anne Sexton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poets are sitting in my kitchen....", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-these-poets-lie-why-do/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/poets-are-sitting-in-my-kitchen-why-do-these-poets-lie-why-do/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```