About me

 

"I'm a poet, and this is what makes me interesting."

This is how Vladimir Mayakovski began his autobiographical notes.

How do I live like a poet?

How do poets live?

Do they really toss and turn between faith and reflection? I suspect they usually live differently. They live defending poetry. Poets live like the defenders of a beseiged citadel, checking to see whether the enemy is approaching and where he’s coming from. This isn’t a healthy way of life; it often leads to lack of generosity and self-criticism. It may render poets incapable of thinking against themselves — and against the age, which is generally mistaken.

Why am I writing this?

Do I need to write it?

Do I need to write it now?

Do I seek truth?

I don't want to use my writing to set me off or see that other people are impressed by me. That's just smoke and mirrors.

I see poetry as the essence of human existence.

Poetry is what is missing.

"I have never written a line that did not have something to do with my existence - I am, as you can see, a realist in my own way." — Paul Celan, June 23, 1962