No poem is easily grasped; so why should any reader expect fast results?

Quote by Joe Barton

Topics: Joe Barton Quotes

I sometimes like to tinker with poems that have failed, ones that I have sent...

I sometimes like to tinker with poems that have failed, ones that I have sent...

The American flag is an enduring symbol of liberty, democracy, and justice. It is fitting...

The American flag is an enduring symbol of liberty, democracy, and justice. It is fitting...

I consider a poem to be a kind of experiment where a number of elements...

I consider a poem to be a kind of experiment where a number of elements...

My obsession with time informs my poetry so completely it is hard for me to...

My obsession with time informs my poetry so completely it is hard for me to...

I would not say I chose to write long poems on a conscious level. The...

I would not say I chose to write long poems on a conscious level. The...

The experiment of the poem is mostly intuitive. I write the first draft, pulling in...

The experiment of the poem is mostly intuitive. I write the first draft, pulling in...

An experienced reader uses the poem as an agent of inquiry. This makes poetry very...

An experienced reader uses the poem as an agent of inquiry. This makes poetry very...

Who is the ideal reader? God only knows.

Who is the ideal reader? God only knows.

Most victims of my autobiographical verse are either far too polite, remarkably understanding unaware that...

Most victims of my autobiographical verse are either far too polite, remarkably understanding unaware that...

To me many short poems read and write like beginnings that simply whet my appetite;...

To me many short poems read and write like beginnings that simply whet my appetite;...

I find it exhausting to administer a magazine without an office or paid staff.

I find it exhausting to administer a magazine without an office or paid staff.

The community of poets I belong to is not as close as it used to...

The community of poets I belong to is not as close as it used to...

You can never step into the same book twice, because you are different each time...

You can never step into the same book twice, because you are different each time...

Poets have to be sensitive to their audience, but it does not mean that they...

Poets have to be sensitive to their audience, but it does not mean that they...

Our flag honors those who have fought to protect it, and is a reminder of...

Our flag honors those who have fought to protect it, and is a reminder of...

We are comfortable with the fact that we cannot know personally what happened in the...

We are comfortable with the fact that we cannot know personally what happened in the...

The reader's challenge is to replicate the experiment by reading the poem and to draw...

The reader's challenge is to replicate the experiment by reading the poem and to draw...

Poets can't resist the dramatic pull of their lives and so inevitably write autobiographical verse.

Poets can't resist the dramatic pull of their lives and so inevitably write autobiographical verse.

I have always been very obsessed with time. Time's passage makes us all very vulnerable...

I have always been very obsessed with time. Time's passage makes us all very vulnerable...

I tell my environmental friends that they have won. Every issue we look at from...

I tell my environmental friends that they have won. Every issue we look at from...