Poetry

If there was no poetry
on any day in the world, poetry
would be invented that day. For there,
would be an intolerable hunger.
—Muriel Rukeyser

I love reading fiction, especially when I fall into the story and the characters become as real as people I know. When a writer tells a story that captivates my imagination I'm drawn along as if we're tethered together. A good story doesn't release its hold until the last page—and then it lingers in my mind.

I love non-fiction, especially when I travel to strange and exotic places, look within someone's life, share their story. And when writers explore ideas I listen carefully—exploring new paradigms.

But poetry distills experiences, pares lines to only include the necessary, the exact word or metaphor. A good poem bores into my soul, focuses on the line, the stanza, each word. Nothing is extra. Nothing is wasted.