I'm passing on a tradition of which I am part. There's a long line of poets who went before me, and I'm another one, and I'm hoping to pass that on to other younger, or newer, poets than myself.
Diane WakoskiAmerican poetry, like American painting, is always personal with an emphasis on the individuality of the poet.
Diane WakoskiStill, language is resilient, and poetry when it is pressured simply goes underground.
Diane WakoskiI don't like political poetry, and I don't write it. If this question was pointing towards that, I think it is missing the point of the American tradition, which is always apolitical, even when the poetry comes out of politically active writers.
Diane Wakoski