Most of my friends like words too well. They set them under the blinding light of the poem and try to extract every possible connotation from each of them, every temporary pun, every direct or indirect connection - as if a word could become an object by mere addition of consequences. Others pick up words from the streets, from their bars, from their offices and display them proudly in their poems as if they were shouting, "See what I have collected from the American language. Look at my butterflies, my stamps, my old shoes! " What does one do with all this crap?. Jack Spicer
About This Quote

This quote speaks to the many problems with using words in poetry. The poet writes beautifully, but he writes in the manner of the poet, not the common person. What does one do with all this crap? Does one write poems that are simply collections of words? Does one write poems that are simply collections of events? Does she just write poems that are simply collections of feelings?

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  1. Most of my friends like words too well. They set them under the blinding light of the poem and try to extract every possible connotation from each of them, every temporary pun, every direct or indirect connection - as if a word could become an...
  2. Words are what sticks to the real. We use them to push the real, to drag the real into the poem. They are what we hold on with, nothing else. They are as valuable in themselves as rope with nothing to be tied to.
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