Writing is the same as music. Itโs in how you phrase it, how you hold back the note, bend it, shape it, then release it. And what you donโt play is as important as what you do say.
Robert CreeleyMoon, moon, when you leave me alone all the darkness is an utter blackness, a pit of fear, a stench, hands unreasonable never to touch. But I love you. Do you love me. What to say when you see me.
Robert CreeleyI did however used to think, you know, in the woods walking, and as a kid playing in the woods, that there was a kind of immanence there โ that woods, and places of that order, had a sense, a kind of presence, that you could feel; that there was something peculiarly, physically present, a feeling of place almost conscious ... like God. It evoked that.
Robert CreeleyStill, no one finally knows what a poet is supposed either to be or to do. Especially in this country, one takes on the jobโbecause all that one does in America is considered a "job"โwith no clear sense as to what is required or where one will ultimately be led. In that respect, it is as particular an instance of a "calling" as one might point to. For years I've kept in mind, "Many are called but few are chosen." Even so "called," there were no assurances that one would be answered.
Robert Creeley