Attention Quote by Pattiann Rogers

Sometimes a word or an argument will trigger a poem.

— Ama Ata Aidoo

Poetry operates by raising our curiosity, engaging the mind by degrees to take an interest in the event, keeping that event suspended, and surprising…

— Joshua Reynolds

I've spent much of my life being attuned to watching for an image or a phrase that can trigger what might be a poem…

— Pattiann Rogers

What inspires a poem for me is usually a moment.

— Sherman Alexie

With me poetry has not been a purpose, but a passion.

— Edgar Allan Poe

“Poetry has an immediate effect on the mind. The simple act of reading poetry alters thought patterns and the shuttle of the breath. Poetry…

— Ivan M. Granger

I rarely think of poetry as something I make happen; it is more accurate to say that it happens to me. Like a summer…

— Barbara Kingsolver

Poetry is a way of always paying attention to the world for me; a way of letting the world stick to me instead of…

— Mike Young

I think what gets a poem going is an initiating line. Sometimes a first line will occur, and it goes nowhere; but other times…

— Billy Collins

“Poetry is inspired by the elements of random thoughts, an overflow of gazing at the unseen.”

— Michael Bassey Johnson

A poem is what the reader lives through under the guidance of the text and experiences as relevant to the text.

— Louise Rosenblatt

For me, a poem is an opportunity to kind of interrogate myself a little bit.

— Tracy K. Smith