Definition, rationality, and structure are ways of seeing, but they become prisons when they blank out other ways of seeing.

Quote by A R Ammons

I can't tell you where a poem comes from, what it is, or what it...

I can't tell you where a poem comes from, what it is, or what it...

Poetry leads us to the unstructured sources of our beings, to the unknown, and returns...

Poetry leads us to the unstructured sources of our beings, to the unknown, and returns...

I am grateful for - though I can't keep up with - the flood of...

I am grateful for - though I can't keep up with - the flood of...

Everything is discursive opinion instead of direct experience.

Everything is discursive opinion instead of direct experience.

Once every five hundred years or so, a summary statement about poetry comes along that...

Once every five hundred years or so, a summary statement about poetry comes along that...

If we ask a vague question, such as, 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague...

If we ask a vague question, such as, 'What is poetry?' we expect a vague...

Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful.

Anything looked at closely becomes wonderful.

The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all...

The poet exposes himself to the risk. All that has been said about poetry, all...

Only silence perfects silence.

Only silence perfects silence.

Probably all the attention to poetry results in some value, though the attention is more...

Probably all the attention to poetry results in some value, though the attention is more...

If the greatest god is the stillness all the motions add up to, then we...

If the greatest god is the stillness all the motions add up to, then we...

Each poem in becoming generates the laws by which it is generated: extensions of the...

Each poem in becoming generates the laws by which it is generated: extensions of the...

Questions structure and, so, to some extent predetermine answers.

Questions structure and, so, to some extent predetermine answers.

Is it not careless to become too local when there are four hundred billion stars...

Is it not careless to become too local when there are four hundred billion stars...

You have your identity when you find out, not what you can keep your mind...

You have your identity when you find out, not what you can keep your mind...

That's a wonderful change that's taken place, and so most poetry today is published, if...

That's a wonderful change that's taken place, and so most poetry today is published, if...

I must stress here the point that I appreciate clarity, order, meaning, structure, rationality: they...

I must stress here the point that I appreciate clarity, order, meaning, structure, rationality: they...

If a poem is each time new, then it is necessarily an act of discovery,...

If a poem is each time new, then it is necessarily an act of discovery,...