#s

A great many people seem to think writing poetry is worthwhile, even though it pays next to nothing and is not as widely read as it should be. ↗

— Mark Strand

#great #many #next #nothing #pays

A life is not sufficiently elevated for poetry, unless, of course, the life has been made into an art. ↗

— Mark Strand

#been #course #elevated #into #life

And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem. ↗

— Mark Strand

#feel #follow #free #imagine #least

And Robert Lowell, of course - in his poems, we're not located in his actual life. We're located more in the externals, in the journalistic facts of his life. ↗

— Mark Strand

#actual life #course #externals #facts #his

But I tend to think of the expressive part of me as rather tedious - never curious or responsive, but blind and self-serving. ↗

— Mark Strand

#curious #expressive #i #me #never

I certainly can't speak for all cultures or all societies, but it's clear that in America, poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It's not part of the cultural mainstream. ↗

— Mark Strand

#certainly #clear #cultural #cultures #i

I tend to like poems that engage me - that is to say, which do not bore me. ↗

— Mark Strand

#engage #i #like #me #poems

I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality. ↗

— Mark Strand

#best #defects #exploits #i #i think

I would say that American poetry has always been a poetry of personal testimony. ↗

— Mark Strand

#american #been #i #personal #poetry

Nothing is the destiny of everyone, it is our commonness made dumb. ↗

— Mark Strand

#dumb #everyone #made #nothing #our