Poems will sit inside me, un-distilled, until a life event jolts them out. And so must be the way for the other amateur, undisciplined poets of the world.
Such is not the way for Audre Lorde, whose essay “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” taken from her collection “Sister Outsider,” links writing to survival. Her prescription is not for a cerebral, analytical writing. No. The writing that will save is the writing of emotions, the writing of deep knowledge before the mind understands this knowing, the writing of the underrated feeling.
All it takes to turn feeling into understanding, into poem, is courage. Here’s to a brave new week.
