Words - as I speak or write them - make a path on which I walk.

20th century poetry is a piñata. Images break from the earth when the poet strikes it.

It is easier to gnaw through bone. Than the hide of the heart.

The word is important in Native American tradition. You speak the path on which you walk. Your words make the trail.

Poetry saves what is human in this world going gaudy & insane. In exploring small truths, something larger might turn up, adding dimension, insight, vision, recognition to our lives. We just might be more complete, more aware after a poem.

Words - as I speak or write them - make a path on which I walk.

I try. I am trying. I was trying. I will try. I shall in the meantime try. I sometimes have tried. I shall still by that time be trying.