--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A decade ago, my poems were precious…" description: "\"A decade ago, my poems were precious little boxes, small and claustrophobic, completely inward gazing. I didn't possess the command to speak beyond the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e63/robin-beth-schaer-60663_aging_a-decade-ago-my-poems-were-precious-litt_2176498.jpg" --- # A decade ago, my poems were precious little boxes, small… ![“A decade ago, my poems were precious little boxes, small and claustrophobic, completely inward gazing. I didn't possess the command to speak beyond the self. Over the years, my poems have stretched out, grown broader and grander. The intervening years of living and aging - with their portions of…” quote by Robin Beth Schaer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e63/robin-beth-schaer-60663_aging_a-decade-ago-my-poems-were-precious-litt_2176498.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e63/robin-beth-schaer-60663_aging_a-decade-ago-my-poems-were-precious-litt_2176498.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e63/robin-beth-schaer-60663_aging_a-decade-ago-my-poems-were-precious-litt_2176498.jpg) > “A decade ago, my poems were precious little boxes, small and claustrophobic, completely inward gazing. I didn't possess the command to speak beyond the self. Over the years, my poems have stretched out, grown broader and grander. The intervening years of living and aging - with their portions of tragedy, triumph, and shipwreck - have earned me both the authority and the necessity to write on a cosmic scale.” [Robin Beth Schaer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-beth-schaer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poet describes growth from inward, confined writing to expansive, worldly expression shaped by life experiences. **In simple terms:** Poems grew from small, personal to large, universal. Key Takeaway Embrace life’s lessons to broaden your voice. Themes growth experience creativity expression authority Mood reflective inspired thoughtful Type literary personal When to use this quote - writing workshops - personal journals - public readings - teaching poetry Key Concepts self‑reflection cosmic perspective aging Questions to Reflect On - How has aging changed your creative focus? - What personal experiences expand your artistic scope? A Different Perspective Might over‑emphasize grandeur, losing intimacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aging](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) [Ago Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ago-poems-4683097/) [Authority](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/authority/) [Cosmic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cosmic/) [Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems/) [Poems Precious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems-precious-4683098/) [Poems Stretched](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poems-stretched-4683095/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Shipwreck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shipwreck/) [Speak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speak/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) [Years Poems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years-poems-4683096/) ## Related quotes > [Laws are not made like lime-twigs or nets, to catch everything that toucheth them; but rather like sea-marks, to guide from shipwreck the ignorant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-sidney/laws-are-not-made-like-lime-twigs-or-nets-to-catch-everything-that/) [Philip Sidney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-sidney/) > [All I'd ever wanted was to forget. but even when I thought I had, pieces had kept emerging, like bits of wood floating up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/all-i-d-ever-wanted-was-to-forget-but-even-when-i-thought-i-had/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [When kindness has left people, even for a few moments, we become afraid of them as if their reason had left them. When it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/when-kindness-has-left-people-even-for-a-few-moments-we-become-afraid-2/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Voyaging begins when one burns one's boats, adventures begin with a shipwreck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-serres/voyaging-begins-when-one-burns-one-s-boats-adventures-begin-with-a/) [Michel Serres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-serres/) > [My story starts at sea, a perilous voyage to an unknown land. A shipwreck. The wild waters roar and heave. The brave vessel is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/my-story-starts-at-sea-a-perilous-voyage-to-an-unknown-land-a/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [The Westerly Wind asserting his sway from the south-west quarter is often like a monarch gone mad, driving forth with wild imprecations the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/the-westerly-wind-asserting-his-sway-from-the-south-west-quarter-is/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [Now the night's breath responds to the sea, which I can scarcely hear from here, as it reminisces about its shipwrecks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-bousquet/now-the-night-s-breath-responds-to-the-sea-which-i-can-scarcely-hear/) [Joë Bousquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-bousquet/) > [If you see the fury and hear the howling of the tempest, or read of shipwrecks, think of the storm of human passions causing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/if-you-see-the-fury-and-hear-the-howling-of-the-tempest-or-read-of/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [Erie, and Ontario, and Huron, and Superior, and Michigan possess an ocean-like expansiveness, with many of the ocean's noblest traits... they are swept by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/erie-and-ontario-and-huron-and-superior-and-michigan-possess-an-ocean/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [Every gazette brings accounts of the untutored freaks of the wind,--shipwrecks and hurricanes which the mariner and planter acceptas special or general providences; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/every-gazette-brings-accounts-of-the-untutored-freaks-of-the-wind/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“So exquisitely perfect was the darkness of the heavens above that one would have difficulty believing it was a prison to the passengers and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/micheal-rivers/so-exquisitely-perfect-was-the-darkness-of-the-heavens-above-that-one/) [Micheal Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/micheal-rivers/) > [They make glorious shipwreck who are lost in seeking worlds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gotthold-ephraim-lessing/they-make-glorious-shipwreck-who-are-lost-in-seeking-worlds/) [Gotthold Ephraim Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gotthold-ephraim-lessing/) > [Salvation is not some felicitous state to which we can lift ourselves by our own bootstraps after the contemplation of sufficiently good examples. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-farrar-capon/salvation-is-not-some-felicitous-state-to-which-we-can-lift-ourselves/) [Robert Farrar Capon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-farrar-capon/) > [Have you ever considered, beloved other, how invisible we are to each other? We look at each other without seeing. We listen to each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/have-you-ever-considered-beloved-other-how-invisible-we-are-to-each/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [The romantic chivalric tradition takes, or at any rate has in the past taken, the young man's eye off women as they are, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-romantic-chivalric-tradition-takes-or-at-any-rate-has-in-the-past/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Robin Beth Schaer > [When I was young, my knowledge of the literary world was a distorted tabloid sketch of dazzling fame, suffering genius, and tragic glamour. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-beth-schaer/when-i-was-young-my-knowledge-of-the-literary-world-was-a-distorted/) [Robin Beth Schaer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-beth-schaer/) > [I want to yell about it most days and stop strangers in the street to share my outrage. But my mind is too serpentine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-beth-schaer/i-want-to-yell-about-it-most-days-and-stop-strangers-in-the-street-to/) [Robin Beth Schaer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-beth-schaer/) > [My path to poetry was slow and meandering. When I eventually found my way to graduate school at 29, making a life as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-beth-schaer/my-path-to-poetry-was-slow-and-meandering-when-i-eventually-found-my/) [Robin Beth Schaer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-beth-schaer/) > [Being pregnant taught me how to be a better writer. It was a lesson in negative capability and surrendering to necessity. Suddenly, my body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-beth-schaer/being-pregnant-taught-me-how-to-be-a-better-writer-it-was-a-lesson-in/) [Robin Beth Schaer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-beth-schaer/) [Explore all 5 Robin Beth Schaer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-beth-schaer/) ## More Aging quotes > [While we've youth in our hearts, we can never grow old.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/while-we-ve-youth-in-our-hearts-we-can-never-grow-old/) [Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-wendell-holmes-jr/) > [In the past 40 years, the United States lost more than a million farmers and ranchers. Many of our farmers are aging. Today, only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-vilsack/in-the-past-40-years-the-united-states-lost-more-than-a-million/) [Tom Vilsack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-vilsack/) > [We'll never be as young as we are tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-ll-never-be-as-young-as-we-are-tonight/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Prayer of an Anonymous Abbess: Lord, thou knowest better than myself that I am growing older and will soon be old. Keep me from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prayer-of-an-anonymous-abbess-lord-thou-knowest-better-than-myself/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [So often do you see collegians enter life with high resolve and lofty purpose and then watch them shrink and shrink to sordid, selfish,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-e-b-du-bois/so-often-do-you-see-collegians-enter-life-with-high-resolve-and-lofty/) [W. E. B. Du Bois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-e-b-du-bois/) > [Aging is like enlightenment at gunpoint. Before I had cancer, I lived my life for my art. After I had cancer, I lived my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-halprin/aging-is-like-enlightenment-at-gunpoint-before-i-had-cancer-i-lived/) [Anna Halprin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-halprin/) > [All the dangers in our world are like a blessed wake up call. They tell us to live life NOW... not tomorrow, not when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-jeffers/all-the-dangers-in-our-world-are-like-a-blessed-wake-up-call-they/) [Susan Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-jeffers/) > [“You could see the signs of female aging as diseased, especially if you had a vested interest in making women too see them your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-wolf/you-could-see-the-signs-of-female-aging-as-diseased-especially-if-you/) [Naomi Wolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-wolf/) > [“It takes maturity to be able to laugh like a child again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moffat-machingura/it-takes-maturity-to-be-able-to-laugh-like-a-child-again/) [Moffat Machingura](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moffat-machingura/) > [Seek ye counsel of the aged for their eyes have looked on the faces of the years and their ears have hardened to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/seek-ye-counsel-of-the-aged-for-their-eyes-have-looked-on-the-faces/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [Growing old-it's not nice, but it's interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-strindberg/growing-old-it-s-not-nice-but-it-s-interesting/) [August Strindberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-strindberg/) > [Anything is possible in the life of a man if he lives long enough. Even maturity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howell-raines/anything-is-possible-in-the-life-of-a-man-if-he-lives-long-enough/) [Howell Raines](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howell-raines/) > [I just want to be Patty McCormack. I want to spend every year aging the way she has.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-varney/i-just-want-to-be-patty-mccormack-i-want-to-spend-every-year-aging/) [Janet Varney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-varney/) > [Maturity is reached the day we don't need to be lied to about anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-yerby/maturity-is-reached-the-day-we-don-t-need-to-be-lied-to-about-anything/) [Frank Yerby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-yerby/) [Browse all 2,792 Aging quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aging/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A decade ago, my poems were precious little boxes, small and claustrophobic, completely inward gazing. 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