Poet Jane Hirshfield said "... the feeling I have about poem-writing (is) that it is always an exploration, of discovering something I didn't already know. Who I am shifts from moment to moment, year to year. What I can perceive does as well. A new poem peers into mystery, into whatever lies just beyond the edge of knowable ground."
I bring a different poem to the writing classes each week, not only to inspire but to introduce new poets to the group members.
Despair by Billy Collins
So much gloom and doubt in our poetry — flowers wilting on the table, the self regarding itself in a watery mirror. Dead leaves cover the ground, the wind moans in the chimney, and the tendrils of the yew tree inch toward the coffin. I wonder what the ancient Chinese poets would make of all this, thee shadows and empty cupboards? Today, with the sun blazing in the trees, my thoughts turn to the great tenth-century celebrators of experience, Wa-Hoo, whose delight in the smallest things could hardly be restrained, and to his joyous counterpart in the western provinces, Ye-Hah. ~ from Ballistics (Random House, 2008)