When I was in graduate school, my thesis included both poetry and essays. Influenced by the personal essays of James Baldwin and Norman Mailer, I loved the form, but pretty much stopped.
Stephen Vincent BenetThere's nothing compared to the history of writing about the city of New York that you get, say, in Charles Reznikoff.
Stephen Vincent BenetI have fallen in love with American names, the sharp, gaunt names that never get fat.
Stephen Vincent BenetA phrase may come to me as I am walking, and, once I write it down in my journal, the rest of the poem will unravel from that catalyst.
Stephen Vincent Benet