ANNE ON POETRY
Poetry does not heal or save a life. But it affirms the life you are living. It bears witness. The poem itself is more than the act of making or expressing one's feelings or oneself. It's an attempt however imperfect, to add something perfect into this world, the way a tree or a rock is perfect, it is an attempt to bring something new that will outlive us all. And because our endeavors can only be imperfect, at best, our making of a work of art - the poem - is finally an act of faith.
It is not faith. It is an act of faith. From the moment we are born, we begin two simultaneous processes - the process of living, and the process of dying. What is any illness in the larger scheme of things.
True, these poems bear testament to my journey with breast cancer. But they are informed by my craft - the poet's craft - an act of making that preceded the illness, and continues to this day.
I am a poet, and I make poems. This is my act of faith . The subject matter of the poems are ultimately of less concern to me than how to make the poems work.
To make the beginning of the poem is to deserve the ending, to make the ending of the poem something I've earned through necessary work of craft and emotional commitment. And ultimately, this is how we must live our lives. To make the beginning deserving of the ending. To make the ending - that passage from one plane of existence to another, earned.
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