A Poem Exists Not to Tell But to Be
Teaching for a number years, I recall student complaints about the “difficulty” of poetry. “I don’t get it. What’s this supposed to be about?” I asked my students to try entering a poem for discovery about themselves as much as understanding that particular construction of words. Although my response felt right, it also left them confused. Recently reading an interview with the poet Natalie Diaz, I found the perfect response to that oft-repeated question from the poetry unini
