--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I define poetry as celebration and…" description: "\"I define poetry as celebration and confrontation. When we witness something, are we responsible for what we witness? That's an on-going existential que..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/756/yusef-komunyakaa-16756_celebration_i-define-poetry-as-celebration-and-confr_2278889.jpg" --- # I define poetry as celebration and confrontation. When we… ![“I define poetry as celebration and confrontation. When we witness something, are we responsible for what we witness? That's an on-going existential question. Perhaps we are and perhaps there's a kind of daring, a kind of necessary energetic questioning. Because often I say it's not what we know…” quote by Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/756/yusef-komunyakaa-16756_celebration_i-define-poetry-as-celebration-and-confr_2278889.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/756/yusef-komunyakaa-16756_celebration_i-define-poetry-as-celebration-and-confr_2278889.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/756/yusef-komunyakaa-16756_celebration_i-define-poetry-as-celebration-and-confr_2278889.jpg) > “I define poetry as celebration and confrontation. When we witness something, are we responsible for what we witness? That's an on-going existential question. Perhaps we are and perhaps there's a kind of daring, a kind of necessary energetic questioning. Because often I say it's not what we know, it's what we can risk discovering.” [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Poetry is both a joyous act and a bold challenge, urging us to own the truths we witness and to risk new discoveries. **In simple terms:** Poetry celebrates and confronts, urging responsibility and daring discovery. Key Takeaway Embrace risk in seeking truth. Themes creativity responsibility existentialism Mood thoughtful inspired Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - writing workshops - public speaking - personal reflection - activism Key Concepts artistic expression ethical inquiry Questions to Reflect On - What truths do you feel compelled to confront? - How does risk shape your creative process? A Different Perspective Risk can lead to misunderstanding or superficiality if not grounded. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Celebration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/celebration/) [Confrontation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confrontation/) [Daring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/daring/) [Energetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energetic/) [Existential](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/existential/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Questioning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/questioning/) [Risk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/risk/) ## Related quotes > [I could no more define poetry than a terrier can define a rat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-could-no-more-define-poetry-than-a-terrier-can-define-a-rat/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I keep trying to define poetry, but its so difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-gleeson/i-keep-trying-to-define-poetry-but-its-so-difficult/) [Jack Gleeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-gleeson/) > [I could define poetry this way: it is that which is lost out of both prose and verse in translation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-frost/i-could-define-poetry-this-way-it-is-that-which-is-lost-out-of-both/) [Robert Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-frost/) > [I keep trying to define 'poetry,' but it's so difficult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-gleeson/i-keep-trying-to-define-poetry-but-it-s-so-difficult/) [Jack Gleeson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-gleeson/) > [Though philosophers like to define poetry as irrational fancy, for us it is practical, humorous, reasonable way of being ourselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/though-philosophers-like-to-define-poetry-as-irrational-fancy-for-us/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [It's not easy to define poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/it-s-not-easy-to-define-poetry/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [It is a shallow criticism that would define poetry as confined to literary productions in rhyme and meter rhythm. The written poem is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/it-is-a-shallow-criticism-that-would-define-poetry-as-confined-to/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [One of the only coherent philosophical positions is thus revolt. It is a constant confrontation between man and his own obscurity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/one-of-the-only-coherent-philosophical-positions-is-thus-revolt-it-is/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [To be robbed and betrayed by a fiendish underground conspiracy, or by the earthly agents of Satan, is at least a romantic sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/to-be-robbed-and-betrayed-by-a-fiendish-underground-conspiracy-or-by/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [“Mother Fuckers. They're going to feel pretty stupid when they find out. They're fucking with the wrong people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kirkman/mother-fuckers-they-re-going-to-feel-pretty-stupid-when-they-find-out/) [Robert Kirkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kirkman/) > [People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/people-of-our-time-are-losing-the-power-of-celebration-instead-of/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [The greatest reward of this constant interrogation, confrontation with the brutality of my country, is that it has freed me from hosts and myths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/the-greatest-reward-of-this-constant-interrogation-confrontation-with/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [I cannot do confrontation. You know that fight or flight thing? I'm flight. I just don't want the argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-saunders/i-cannot-do-confrontation-you-know-that-fight-or-flight-thing-i-m/) [Jennifer Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-saunders/) > [One of the most basic principles for making and keeping peace within and between nations. . . is that in political, military, moral, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-carter/one-of-the-most-basic-principles-for-making-and-keeping-peace-within/) [Jimmy Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-carter/) > [Because after you've crossed some lines, you just keep crossing them. And there's no escaping from constant escape. Distracting ourselves. Avoiding confrontation. Getting past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/because-after-you-ve-crossed-some-lines-you-just-keep-crossing-them/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) ## More by Yusef Komunyakaa > [It took me 14 years to write poems about Vietnam. I had never thought about writing about it, and in a way I had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/it-took-me-14-years-to-write-poems-about-vietnam-i-had-never-thought/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [I see many black males grasping for some thread of hope. There are so many destructive practices, glimpses into a psychic abyss. That must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-see-many-black-males-grasping-for-some-thread-of-hope-there-are-so/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [“Title: Blue Light Lounge Sutra For The Performance Poets At Harold Park Hotel the need gotta be so deep words can't answer simple questions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/title-blue-light-lounge-sutra-for-the-performance-poets-at-harold/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [“Foolhearted mindreader, help us see how the heart begs, how fangs of opprobrium possess our eyes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/foolhearted-mindreader-help-us-see-how-the-heart-begs-how-fangs-of/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [I like connecting the abstract to the concrete. There's a tension in that. I believe the reader or listener should be able to enter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-like-connecting-the-abstract-to-the-concrete-there-s-a-tension-in/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [Whoever said men hit harder when women are around, is right. Word for word, we beat the love out of each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/whoever-said-men-hit-harder-when-women-are-around-is-right-word-for/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [I think of language as our first music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-think-of-language-as-our-first-music/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [I think of my poems as personal and public at the same time. You could say they serve as psychological overlays. One fits on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/i-think-of-my-poems-as-personal-and-public-at-the-same-time-you-could/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [“In the old days, the general's ribbons / & medals rainbowed across his chest, / & if he were interrogating himself, / by now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/in-the-old-days-the-general-s-ribbons-medals-rainbowed-across-his/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [Blue is the insides of something mysterious and lonely. I'd look at fish and birds, thinking the sky and water colored them. The first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/blue-is-the-insides-of-something-mysterious-and-lonely-i-d-look-at/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [“The Way the Cards Fall " Why did you stay away so long? I’ve buried another husband, since I last saw you holding to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/the-way-the-cards-fall-why-did-you-stay-away-so-long-i-ve-buried/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [Vietnam helped me to look at the horror and terror in the hearts of people and realize how we can't aim guns and set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/vietnam-helped-me-to-look-at-the-horror-and-terror-in-the-hearts-of/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/it-wasn-t-a-deliberate-decision-to-become-a-poet-it-was-something-i/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [“My doors enter from the sidestreet, my windows painted basement black, my mouth kisses the blues harp, my heart hides like notes locked in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/my-doors-enter-from-the-sidestreet-my-windows-painted-basement-black/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) > [Cursing themselves in ragged dreamsfire has singed the edges of,they know a slow dying the fields have come to terms with.Shimmering fans work against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusef-komunyakaa/cursing-themselves-in-ragged-dreamsfire-has-singed-the-edges-of-they/) [Yusef Komunyakaa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) [Explore all 39 Yusef Komunyakaa quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusef-komunyakaa/) ## More Celebration quotes > [Spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. Joy is of the essence of life;](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnivesh/spiritually-life-is-a-festival-a-celebration-joy-is-of-the-essence-of/) [Agnivesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnivesh/) > [The official independence celebration was going to be held over four or five days, and a group of journalists from all over the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryszard-kapuscinski/the-official-independence-celebration-was-going-to-be-held-over-four/) [Ryszard Kapuscinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryszard-kapuscinski/) > [Missouri has a rich history and diverse heritage that deserves a proper celebration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-parson/missouri-has-a-rich-history-and-diverse-heritage-that-deserves-a/) [Mike Parson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-parson/) > [Every day we have a special reason to make a good celebration! And that reason is our very existence!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/every-day-we-have-a-special-reason-to-make-a-good-celebration-and/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“At the water's edge, barrels of pitch blazed like huge bonfires. Their reflection, crimson as the rising moon, crept to meet us in long,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/at-the-water-s-edge-barrels-of-pitch-blazed-like-huge-bonfires-their/) [Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/) > [One of my earliest memories is being backstage at 'Bran Nue Dae' in Darwin when I was about eight. It's such a fun, happy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shari-sebbens/one-of-my-earliest-memories-is-being-backstage-at-bran-nue-dae-in/) [Shari Sebbens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shari-sebbens/) > [God does not ask your ability Or your inability. He asks only your availability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kay-ash/god-does-not-ask-your-ability-or-your-inability-he-asks-only-your/) [Mary Kay Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kay-ash/) > [My 'Idea of India' calls not just for tolerance, but a celebration of all points of view. Where the sensibilities of every individual are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/my-idea-of-india-calls-not-just-for-tolerance-but-a-celebration-of/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Growing up, there were a lot of funerals that I attended, and the adults at the funerals went out of their way to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-fuller/growing-up-there-were-a-lot-of-funerals-that-i-attended-and-the/) [Bryan Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-fuller/) > [So your life becomes a vital celebration, your relationship becomes a festive thing. Whatsoever you do, every moment is a festival. You eat, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-your-life-becomes-a-vital-celebration-your-relationship-becomes-a/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [What I love about the East End is that there's a great perseverance, determination and courage. What I dislike about it is that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-marsan/what-i-love-about-the-east-end-is-that-there-s-a-great-perseverance/) [Eddie Marsan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-marsan/) > [“This was the image Angeline had of him at the time; always moving to the edges of some sort of celebration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-coplin/this-was-the-image-angeline-had-of-him-at-the-time-always-moving-to/) [Amanda Coplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-coplin/) > [People of our time are losing the power of celebration. Instead of celebrating we seek to be amused or entertained. Celebration is an active…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-joshua-heschel/people-of-our-time-are-losing-the-power-of-celebration-instead-of/) [Abraham Joshua Heschel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-joshua-heschel/) > [Thinking about writing as an act of celebration is sometimes a helpful framework for me. It allows me to prioritize what I want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-kay/thinking-about-writing-as-an-act-of-celebration-is-sometimes-a/) [Sarah Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-kay/) > [Tolerance and celebration of individual differences is the fire that fuels lasting love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hannah/tolerance-and-celebration-of-individual-differences-is-the-fire-that/) Tom Hannah [Browse all 963 Celebration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/celebration/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I define poetry as celebration and confrontation. 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