John Ashbery

There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army.

There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army.

I like poems you can tack all over with a hammer and there are no hollow places.

I like poems you can tack all over with a hammer and there are no hollow places.

I don't want to read what is going to slide down easily; there has to be some crunch, a certain read more

I don't want to read what is going to slide down easily; there has to be some crunch, a certain amount of resilience.

I don't look on poetry as closed works. I feel they're going on all the time in my head and read more

I don't look on poetry as closed works. I feel they're going on all the time in my head and I occasionally snip off a length.

The poem is sad because it wants to be yours, and cannot be.

The poem is sad because it wants to be yours, and cannot be.