I've changed over my writing life. If I can generalize, I would say that the more recent poems - believe it or not - are more pointedly political; although, if the earlier poems were more existential, they were still political; though, in their own way, had a complicated presence.
Gerald SternBruce Smith is a tender master of music, and beautiful lines, and complex thoughts, and fascinating wild personal and cultural references.
Gerald SternIf you don't have a bed, or a dresser or a wall, or a book or a toy you are oppressed. An African American in a white world. A Jew in a Christian world. A gypsy. A Native American. A Chinese American. Let's say, you were born deprived.
Gerald SternIt's a kind of liberation to break free in language, if you can break free, but it's also a confinement, because form confines you - whatever the form.
Gerald Stern