John Barton
John Barton
arrive deliver disprove experiment prove reveals
The point of an experiment is not to arrive at a predetermined end point, to prove or disprove anything, but to deliver a poem that reveals much about the process taken.
impose poet
The poet must decide not to impose his feelings in order to write without sentimentality.
competition patient ultimately wins
With this competition the patient ultimately wins out,
engaged few readers remove respect steps
Writing can sometimes be exploitative. I like to take a few steps of remove in order to respect the privacy of the subject. If readers make the link, they have engaged with the poem.
four game past power running trouble
We have had trouble with the power running game the past four weeks,
agency attorney defend strongly
Our attorney will strongly defend the agency in this case,
certain happen hard hold informs lives obsession poetry summarize time
My obsession with time informs my poetry so completely it is hard for me to summarize it. We want time to pass, for new things to happen to us, we want to hold on to certain moments, we don't want our lives to end.
god ideal
Who is the ideal reader? God only knows.
people
We have to have people in the right position, we have to do something to get in straight.
handle kid surprised
We anticipated it. We were not surprised by it. We were set up to handle the fake, but the kid made a play. He is a playmaker.
time
You can never step into the same book twice, because you are different each time you read it.
poems
To me many short poems read and write like beginnings that simply whet my appetite; I want to get over that.
cannot poems tinker
I sometimes like to tinker with poems that have failed, ones that I have sent aside. Even years afterward, I will revisit them if there is something about them that I cannot give up on.
agent poetry reader uses
An experienced reader uses the poem as an agent of inquiry. This makes poetry very exciting, unstable, and interactive.