Poetry is the thread that leads us out of the labyrinth of despair and into the light.
Gregory OrrRead
I believe in poetry as a way of surviving the emotional chaos, spiritual confusions and traumatic events that come with being alive.
Interpretation
Poetry serves as a means to cope with life's emotional and spiritual challenges.
In this quote, Gregory Orr expresses the idea that poetry acts as a vital tool for individuals to navigate and endure the complexities of life, including the emotional turmoil and existential questions that arise from traumatic experiences. He suggests that through the creative expression found in poetry, one can find solace and understanding amid chaos and confusion.
In practice
During a poetry reading, one might share this quote to illustrate the healing power of poetry.
Poetry is the thread that leads us out of the labyrinth of despair and into the light.
There is so much that glows in the circus, from flames to lanterns to stars. I have heard the expression “trick of the light” applied to sights within Le Cirque des Reves so frequently that I sometimes suspect the entirety of the circus is itself a complex illusion of illumination” .
As the waves of perfume, heliotrope, rose, _x000D_ _x000D_ Float in the garden when no wind blows, _x000D_ _x000D_ Come to us, go from us, whence no one knows; _x000D_ _x000D_ So the old tunes float in my mind, _x000D_ _x000D_ And go from me leaving no trace behind, _x000D_ _x000D_ Like fragrance borne on the hush of the wind.
We used to make patterns in the dirt, hanging our feet off the horse-drawn farm equipment. We made endless hourglass figures that I now see as the forms within forms in my crocheted wire sculptures.
It is not just shameful for a contemporary American poet to use rhymes, it is unthinkable. It seems banal to him; he fears banality worse than anything, and therefore, he uses free verse - though free verse is no guarantee against banality.
Through art we express our conception of what nature is not.
You know, Hitler wanted to be an artist. At eighteen he took his inheritance, seven hundred kronen, and moved to Vienna to live and study... Ever see one of his paintings? Neither have I. Resistance beat him. Call it overstatement but I'll say it anyway: it was easier for Hitler to start World War II than it was for him to face a blank square of canvas.
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