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I keep trying to define 'poetry,' but it's so difficult.

What actually makes poetry poetry is of course impossible to define. We recognize it when we hear it, when we see it, but we can't define it.

Poetry is not easy. Or should I say, real poetry is not easy.

Poetry is an art, the easiest to dabble in, but the hardest to reach true excellence.

Poetry is meant to inspire readers and listeners, to connect them more deeply to themselves even as it links them more fully to others. But many people feel put off by the terms of poetry, its odd vocabulary, its notorious difficulty.

My old teacher's definition of poetry is an attempt to understand.

I think poetry is able to say things in such a small, perfect way that are so hard to say. I think it's a perfect medium for expressing difficult ideas and concepts and feelings. It's one of my great loves.

I don't try to call myself a poet. But I know that my stuff is pretty literal, in that the themes are pretty simple and on the surface.

For me, poetry is a situation - a state of being, a way of facing life and facing history.

Poetry is an art, and chief of the fine art; the easiest to dabble in, the hardest in which to reach true excellence.