“Reading or listening to poems is such a different experience from the rest of our lives, and the more we are colonized by our devices and the “information” and “experiences” that they supposedly deliver (when in fact it is we who are like virgins in some ritual sacrifice being delivered) the more people will respond to a true experience of un-monetized attention. If you just look at the faces of people at a reading where true poetry is happening, you see a kind of relaxed wistful dreamy attention, not necessarily towards the poem, but towards possibility, that is quite moving. Nowhere else in our lives do we have this opportunity, and I truly feel sorry for people who are deprived of the pleasure of occasionally coming into contact with real poetry.”
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This whole interview is really great.
