“ It came to my house.It sat on my shoulders.Your shadow is yours. I told it so. I said it was yours.I have carried it with me too long. I give it back. Mark Strand
“ A life is not sufficiently elevated for poetry, unless, of course, the life has been made into an art. Mark Strand
“ Poetry is something that happens in universities, in creative writing programs or in English departments. Mark Strand
“ A poem is a place where the conditions of beyondness and withinness are made palpable, where to imagine is to feel what it is like to be. It allows us to have the life we are denied because we are too… Mark Strand
“ These wrinkles are nothingThese gray hairs are nothing,This stomach which sagswith old food, these bruisedand swollen ankles, my darkening brain,they are nothing.I am the same boymy mother used to kis… Mark Strand
“ Nobody sees it happening, but the architecture of our timeIs becoming the architecture of the next time. And the dazzleOf light upon the waters is as nothing beside the changesWrought therein, just as… Mark Strand
“ And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem. Mark Strand
“ I certainly can't speak for all cultures or all societies, but it's clear that in America, poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It's not part of the cultural mainstream. Mark Strand
“ And yet, in a culture like ours, which is given to material comforts, and addicted to forms of entertainment that offer immediate gratification, it is surprising that so much poetry is written. Mark Strand
“ A great many people seem to think writing poetry is worthwhile, even though it pays next to nothing and is not as widely read as it should be. Mark Strand
“ I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality. Mark Strand
