I am convinced that the first lyric poem was written at night, and that the moon was witness to the event and that the event was witness to the moon. For me, the moon has always been the very embodiment of lyric poetry.
Mary RuefleYes, the mistrust of poetry has a long history, for a variety of reasons, but they all come down to sentiment and invention over fact and truth. Figurative language is suspicious.
Mary RuefleThe origins of poetry are clearly rooted in obscurity, in secretiveness, in incantation, in spells that must at once invoke and protect, tell the secret and keep it.
Mary RuefleIn our marginal existence, what else is there but this voice within us, this great weirdness we are always leaning forward to listen to?
Mary RuefleIn one sense, reading is a great waste of time. In another sense, it is a great extension of time, a way for one person to live a thousand and one lives in a single lifespan, to watch the great impersonal universe at work again and again That is why I read: I want everything to be okay. Thatโs why I read when I was a lonely kid and thatโs why I read now that Iโm a scared adult.
Mary Ruefle