I think that when a poem can move readers across generations and across its specific class or race then it becomes truly classic.
Rita DoveThe American Dream is a phrase we'll have to wrestle with all of our lives. It means a lot of things to different people. I think we're redefining it now
Rita DoveI'm never quite sure how the poem is going to resolve itself and that I'm always in some way surprised. I make a discovery in a poem as I write it.
Rita Dove