Canadian - Poet | -
The point of an experiment is not to arrive at a predetermined end point, to prove or disprove anything, but to deliver a poem that reveals much about the process taken.
John Barton
ProcessEndProvePointAnything
I consider a poem to be a kind of experiment where a number of elements are brought together under test conditions to see how they will interact to create meaning or relevance.
TogetherMeaningCreateKindTest
I have become intrigued with the combining of seemingly unrelated ideas or images, or the drawing upon the many, sometimes dissimilar, meanings a word might have.
IdeasDrawingSometimesBecomeWord
The reader's challenge is to replicate the experiment by reading the poem and to draw their own conclusions.
ChallengeReadingExperimentOwn
An experienced reader uses the poem as an agent of inquiry. This makes poetry very exciting, unstable, and interactive.
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Some readers allow their prejudices to blind them. A good reader knows how to disregard inappropriate responses.
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No poem is easily grasped; so why should any reader expect fast results?
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Reading should be a repeat performance.
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You can never step into the same book twice, because you are different each time you read it.
TimeStepBookYouNeverSame
Poets can't resist the dramatic pull of their lives and so inevitably write autobiographical verse.
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Most victims of my autobiographical verse are either far too polite, remarkably understanding unaware that I have written poems about them.
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Poetry is but another form of inquiry into the nature of phenomena, using with its own unique procedures and tools.
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