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.

So that the old joy, modest as cake, as wine and friendship Will stay with us at the last, backed read more

So that the old joy, modest as cake, as wine and friendship Will stay with us at the last, backed by the night Whose ruse gave it our final meaning

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 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 write with experiences in mind, but I don't write about them, I write out of them.

I write with experiences in mind, but I don't write about them, I write out of them.