Contemporary Poetry Quotes

“Modern poetry, for me, began not in English at all but in Spanish, in the poems of Lorca.”
― W.S. Merwin

“The American identity has never been a singular one and the voices of poets invariably sing, in addition to their own, the voices of those around them.”
― Aberjhani, The American Poet Who Went Home Again

“I called it a baptism in flaming ink that forced me to shed my shyness about recognizing myself as a poet and to accept the fact that life had never given me any choice in the matter. And then I had to discover exactly what that meant.”
― Aberjhani, The American Poet Who Went Home Again

“Astro Types

Aries is the forward type
He doesn’t lose his head
Except when charging headlong in
Where “Angels fear to tread”.

Taurus has a pretty face
And likes her comfort best.
She’ll eat you out of house and home
Then take the longest rest.”
― Bernie Morris, Colleen Thatcher, Verse for Ages

“A heartbeat without anything to support
A body that fears its own warmth
You who hates their own reflection
Are you unable to face forward anymore?”
― Tiffany Fulton, Daylight Dreams

“Jack and John

Jack Spratt was much too fat
John Spratt was far too lean
And so between the two of them
They made a dreadful scene.
Jack Spratt got stuck inside the door
While John fell down a drain
And what with all the noise they made
The neighbours did complain.”
― Bernie Morris, Verse for Ages

“Painted desert, ocean of color
sun's worshiper, moon's lover
picture of a coyote's voice
sandbox of angels, another toy.”
― Trine Daely, Life Games

“How beautiful the universe
What little we can see
The shimmering stars
The silver moon
The timeless melody.

Are we goldfish in a bowl
Doomed eternally
To swim around our little world
And think it is the sea?
And that we are the masters?”
― Bernie Morris, Verse for Ages

“Amelia

It was just a Morris Mini
Made in 1959
It was old and rather tatty
But what mattered, it was mine
But it wasn't just a motor car
It meant the world to me
It gave me liberation
'Twas the thing that set me free
I felt the need to name it
And then "Millie" came to mind
Back then it was a grannie's name
The oddest I could find
Amelia was christened
And it seemed to suit her well
The only car that had a name
As far as I could tell
I simply drove it everywhere
And it never missed a beat
Despite her ragged edges
She would not admit defeat
But slowly I grew older
And I felt the need for more
And Millie lost her lustre
She just wasn't like before
My wife now has a Mini
That is more than twice as fast
But it's somehow lost the magic
Of that old one of the past
The one thing I insist on
That will always be the same
Yes, I'm sure you've guessed it
It has got the same old name.”
― Robbie Franklin, The Ipswich Bus

“He was a volcano that spewed only ashes and destruction, and they despised him for that lying tongue.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, A Heart Made of Tissue Paper

“How sweetly delirious are the tinkling and trilling of mirth that draw to their sounds the friendliest hearts.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, A Heart Made of Tissue Paper

“The weight of my grief in the depth of sorrows rivals the bliss of our love at the height of past joys.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, A Heart Made of Tissue Paper

“Rewards live at the far edge of honest sweat, heavy toil, and dogged determination.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, A Heart Made of Tissue Paper

“I pondered the day away at the changing shapes of passing clouds, lazing in the shade of palm trees.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, A Heart Made of Tissue Paper

“There are more books than can be read, more friends than can be made, more laughs than can be chortled, and no time to waste.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, A Heart Made of Tissue Paper

“Te odio
desesperadamente
aunque seas lo único imprescindible
aunque te escriba siempre
aunque no pueda dejar de pensar en vos.”
― Magalí Levin, Antes de Dormir

“The difference between us & God

is there is no doorway between
us and God. Among ourselves,

we erect many frames.”
― Sneha Subramanian Kanta

“وجهكِ أجمل من سيَرِ الأبطال
‏وقلبك شطآنُ...
‏وأقول لقلبي: آن نغادر هذا البحر
‏وآن نكذّب بوصلة من خشبٍ
‏كلّ السفن متوجةٌ بشراعٍ من شبكٍ!
‏واللهفة رُبانُ
‏وأحبك
لولا أنّ الأرض...
‏أحبك
لولا أني الأرض
‏ولولا ذاكرتي والحمض النووي وأهلي والتاريخ
وأني لا يأخذني الحب
كما تأخذني الأوطانُ...”
― Mahdi Mansour

“لم آتِ، لكني أتيتُ...
ومضيتُ لكن ما مضيتُ
قلقاً على شكل النهايةِ
لا ابتديتُ ولا انتهيتُ”
― Mahdi Mansour

“أصعب الجروح، هي تلك التي لا دماء لها…”
― Mahdi Mansour

“ولست سعيداً ولكنني ماهرٌ بادّعاء الفرحْ...
وتلك جراحي تبدّل ألوانها وتدور
وأنتم تظنّون
أنّ السماء تظلّل رأسي بقوس قزحْ...
أنا مثلكم متعبٌ
كلّما غادرتني يدٌ نقصت لغتي فكرةً ...
كلما "طلع الفجر" ضاعت من الليل قافيةٌ
كلّما أغلق الحب نافذةً، وجد الوجد بابا جديداً لقلبي،
ولي مثلكم خالقٌ عادلٌ
علّم القلب أن يتعافى سريعاً،
لكي لا يغادره من أساء
ولا يجرح الحب مهما جرحْ...”
― Mahdi Mansour

“عليك أن تتوالد كثيراً لتعيش الى الأبد... لأن الذين يولدون مرة واحدة يموتون كثيراً…”
― Mahdi Mansour

“كيف انتقل العالم من الحتمية واليقين إلى الفوضى؟
من نيوتين إلى بوانكاريه…”
― Mahdi Mansour

“وعيناك فصلا ربيع يعيدان للأرض أغصانها الوارفةْ...
وخداك نهرا نبيذٍ يسيلان من كرمةٍ نازفةْ...
يداك، كأن يخرج الموت منهزماً من دفاتر شعري...
خطاياك، مثل النجوم تمدّ أصابعها فوق رأسك وهي تقول: أنا آسفةْ...”
― Mahdi Mansour

“Lifecast by Stewart Stafford

Lifecast
Be your play's lead actor,
Beware of its shooting star,
In drama's immortal mania,
Your reputation carries far.

Fish your dawn-gold phrases,
From out the impostor's throat,
Your tongue streaming candor,
Not stumbling forth by rote.

Let no Salieri hand,
Override your author's claim,
Even if remuneration's elusive,
You may still relish the acclaim.

© Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“As a class poets are not without cultural status. Like priests in a town of agnostics, they still command a certain residual prestige. But as individual artists they are almost invisible.”
― Dana Gioia, Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture

“Most editors run poems and poetry reviews the way a prosperous Montana rancher might keep a few buffalo around—not to eat the endangered creatures but to display them for tradition's sake.”
― Dana Gioia, Poetry as Enchantment

“An art expands its audience by presenting masterpieces, not mediocrity.”
― Dana Gioia, Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture

“Poetry needs to be liberated from literary criticism.”
― Dana Gioia, Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture

“It is time to experiment, time to leave the well-ordered but stuffy classroom, time to restore a vulgar vitality to poetry.”
― Dana Gioia, Can Poetry Matter?: Essays on Poetry and American Culture