3Q1

Poetry has been a major part of my life.  I was a reader first, of course.  I read Walt Whitman, and e.e. cummings, and a few others.  Poetry always appeals to me because of the depth that can be achieved in the verses.  In school, I feel that delving too far into the poems, hanging on every word, rhyme and sound, has caused the poems to feel tired.  When I read a poem, I want the words to flow off my lips in a way that a piece of prose cannot do.  I want to be able to make the reader feel something they have either never felt before or have not felt in a long time.  The poetry that I write is very much inspired by Poe and Joyce, even simply in the syntax and style.  I try not to classify my poems and say that "I only write free verse" because poetry is much more than that.  Love, desire, sadness, these emotions are much more complex than can be studied in a classroom.  Poetry is much more intimate than something that can be studied in a classroom.