Ifs Quote by Denise Duhamel

I don't want to write poems that are just really clear about how I'm aware of all the traps involved in writing poetry; I…

— Ben Lerner

The topics just kind of come to me. If they are relevant, it's because they're happening in the world around me, and it's affecting…

— Rupi Kaur

I don't think I did write any poems to fill narrative gaps. Not consciously, anyway. As much as possible, I try to discover my…

— James Arthur

I've reached a point in life where it would be easy to let down my guard and write simple imagistic poems. But I don't…

— Maxine Kumin

There's always some reason not to be writing and I regret the times I give in to that, because then writing feels strange -…

— Joan Larkin

Though it does seem like I have written an immense amount of work, over the years I have pushed the pause button. I have…

— Denise Duhamel

I hope I can write toward my interests. But poets should be afraid of too fluidly responding to what they're interested in.

— Shane McCrae

I never deny poems when they come; whatever I am doing, whatever I am writing, I lay it aside and attend to the arriving…

— Amy Lowell

I always feel vulnerable talking about the poetry aspect of my career because it's little diary entries that I need to sometimes close read,…

— Masiela Lusha

I keep all my poems in my journals and lock them away. They are the start of everything.

— Stevie Nicks

I prefer always to think that I am creating a book, not a series of stand-alone poems.

— Martha Ronk

Yes, I do often write poems from the mind, but I hope I don't ignore feelings and emotions.

— Anne Stevenson