--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poets have to keep pushing, pushing…" description: "\"Poets have to keep pushing, pushing, against the darkness, and write their way out of it as well.\" — Anne Waldman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/anne-waldman-4046_darkness_poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-again_2665609.png" --- # Poets have to keep pushing, pushing, against the darkness… ![“Poets have to keep pushing, pushing, against the darkness, and write their way out of it as well.” quote by Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/anne-waldman-4046_darkness_poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-again_2665609.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/anne-waldman-4046_darkness_poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-again_2665609.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/anne-waldman-4046_darkness_poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-again_2665609.png) > “Poets have to keep pushing, pushing, against the darkness, and write their way out of it as well.” [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poets must continuously confront darkness, using writing as a means to escape and transform it. **In simple terms:** Poets fight darkness by writing. Key Takeaway Write to confront and transcend darkness. Themes creativity resilience mental health Mood inspirational thoughtful Type creative emotional When to use this quote - personal struggle - creative process Key Concepts poetry catharsis Questions to Reflect On - What darkness do you write about? - How does writing change your perception of it? A Different Perspective Writing alone may not heal all wounds. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) [Darkness Write](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness-write-761405/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets/) [Poets Pushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poets-pushing-1718493/) [Pushing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pushing/) [Pushing Darkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pushing-darkness-2462989/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Write Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/write-way/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“most of these American poets pushing and hustling their talents playing at greatness. poet (?): that word needs re- defining. when I hear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/most-of-these-american-poets-pushing-and-hustling-their-talents/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Am I pushing or dying? the light up there, the immense round blazing white light is drinking me. 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I would like to write in a way that will convey that to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claire-messud/i-digress-a-lot-it-s-how-i-experience-the-world-i-would-like-to-write/) [Claire Messud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claire-messud/) > [I probably read 100 times more than I write, but that way when I move my characters through it, I know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-auel/i-probably-read-100-times-more-than-i-write-but-that-way-when-i-move/) [Jean M. Auel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-auel/) > [The way we learn to write is the way we learn to talk: We listen to others and start mimicking speech, and that's how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/the-way-we-learn-to-write-is-the-way-we-learn-to-talk-we-listen-to/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [Dear John, tell me everything. 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I think he wanted to write the great American novel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/my-father-was-a-frustrated-writer-i-think-he-wanted-to-write-the/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [No one begs you to be a poet or write a 1000-page poem. 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People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/i-had-parents-who-were-attentive-to-what-was-going-on-politically/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [In a way, America's the shadow of everything I do, everywhere I go, everything I carry, no matter if I travel to the ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/in-a-way-america-s-the-shadow-of-everything-i-do-everywhere-i-go/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [When I look at my life there are these streams, these things that have continuity from the fifties to now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/when-i-look-at-my-life-there-are-these-streams-these-things-that-have/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [We humans need to do better with our vast minds and alchemical powers. Future radial poetries might be more symbiotic with the rest of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/we-humans-need-to-do-better-with-our-vast-minds-and-alchemical-powers/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [ I think anything that gets people outside \[is good\] - I'm a big supporter of public parks and public spaces. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/i-think-anything-that-gets-people-outside-is-good-i-m-a-big-supporter/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [Idea that all the beats are wildly liberal and progressive is ridiculous. You have people thinking for themselves and having certain affinities because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/idea-that-all-the-beats-are-wildly-liberal-and-progressive-is/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [I think of my father born in this very small, limited situation and then coming out of that. Many people have this story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/i-think-of-my-father-born-in-this-very-small-limited-situation-and/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [When I attended the Berkeley Poetry Conference in 1965, I was very inspired. The collaboration of many poets from these alternative traditions - though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/when-i-attended-the-berkeley-poetry-conference-in-1965-i-was-very/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) > [One has to be cautious and respectful of the power of the "substance" guides. I don't advocate imbibing the "little saint children," as Maria…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/one-has-to-be-cautious-and-respectful-of-the-power-of-the-substance/) [Anne Waldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) [Explore all 117 Anne Waldman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/) ## More Darkness quotes > [“Narrative cannot sustain formlessness any more than light can sustain darkness - it is the antithesis of formlessness, and so it can never truly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/narrative-cannot-sustain-formlessness-any-more-than-light-can-sustain/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) > [“Wait here, wait here!" he cried and jumped up and began to run for help toward a cluster of lights he saw in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flannery-o-connor/wait-here-wait-here-he-cried-and-jumped-up-and-began-to-run-for-help/) [Flannery O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flannery-o-connor/) > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Clear moments are so short. There is much more darkness. More ocean than terra firma. More shadow than form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-zagajewski/clear-moments-are-so-short-there-is-much-more-darkness-more-ocean/) [Adam Zagajewski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-zagajewski/) > [I even see the cinema itself as a woman, with its alternation of light and darkness, of appearing and disappearing images](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/federico-fellini/i-even-see-the-cinema-itself-as-a-woman-with-its-alternation-of-light/) [Federico Fellini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/federico-fellini/) > [I guess he'll have to figure out someday that he is supposed to have this dark side, that it is part of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/i-guess-he-ll-have-to-figure-out-someday-that-he-is-supposed-to-have/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“I promise to respect and protect your aloneness, knowing that everything created must have its period of darkness: child and bulb, poem and personality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/i-promise-to-respect-and-protect-your-aloneness-knowing-that/) [anne morrow lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/) > [The beauty of darkness is how it lets you see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-rich/the-beauty-of-darkness-is-how-it-lets-you-see/) [Adrienne Rich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-rich/) > [“Even in darkness your lips taste of sunshine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/even-in-darkness-your-lips-taste-of-sunshine/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [“Defy me not for gleam can only shine in my existence" said Darkness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/defy-me-not-for-gleam-can-only-shine-in-my-existence-said-darkness/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“What does he look like? 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Do you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-gentile/twinking-tears-in-a-sea-of-black-soft-light-in-a-world-of-darkness/) [Nicole Gentile](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-gentile/) [Browse all 8,219 Darkness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/darkness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poets have to keep pushing, pushing, against the darkness, and write their way out of it as well.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anne Waldman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-against-the-darkness-and-write/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Darkness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-against-the-darkness-and-write/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/anne-waldman-4046_darkness_poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-again_2665609.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/anne-waldman-4046_darkness_poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-again_2665609.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b64/anne-waldman-4046_darkness_poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-again_2665609.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poets have to keep pushing, pushing, against the darkness, and write their way out of it as well.” — Anne Waldman", "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 Waldman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-waldman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Poets have to keep pushing, pushing,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-against-the-darkness-and-write/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-waldman/poets-have-to-keep-pushing-pushing-against-the-darkness-and-write/#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 } } ] } ```