|
Excerpt from
Jane was with me
the day the rain dropped a squirrel like that.
An upside-down embrace,
a conical explosion from the sky,
a thick flowering of sudden water --
Marvin Bell at The Academy of American Poets
Marist Digital Library: Marvin Bell links
An interview with Marvin Bell by Ted Slade
How do you know when a poem is finished? Or when it's dead?
A poem seems finished when it has used up all the material within it or completely satisfied its form--which may amount to the same thing. It's dead when it won't breathe or boogie. How do I know? I know.
|