1. The first poem I remember reading/hearing/reacting to was:

I can’t remember any poems from my childhood. Some songs, like “It’s raining, it’s pouring,” but no poems. Poetry was foreign soil. Perhaps the “tiddly pom” rhyme from one of the Pooh Bear stories, “The more it snows, tiddly pom, the more it goes, tiddly pom, the more it goes, tiddly pom, on snowing.”

The first poem that struck me with an appreciable emotional impact was:

“High Flight,” strangely enough.

2. I was forced to memorize in school:

I never was. I did memorize “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” at one point, but that was for extra credit.

3. I read/don’t read poetry because:

I read it because I’m lonely. And when I get done reading, I’m still lonely. There’s a line about the definition of insanity being doing the same thing and expecting different results. I keep expecting different results.

Oh, on a more cheerful day I’d say I read it to learn about the world, to creep inside someone else’s skin. But I’m not feeling cheerful. I’m being grim.

4. A poem I’m likely to think about when asked about a favorite poem is:

The answer changes all the time, and usually isn’t a “classic” in any sense.

5. I write/don’t write poetry, but:

I write poetry, but I wonder if I really respect it.

6. My experience with reading poetry differs from my experience with reading other types of literature.

Poetry is hard. Lately, it hasn’t felt worth it, but when I’m not feeling so bleak, it’s the sort of churning up from the mud that I enjoy. Still, a novel is always easier.

7. I find poetry:

I find it most in broken things.

8. The last time I heard poetry:

This morning. I did some recordings and had to listen to my own, strange voice trickling through the headphones.

9. I think poetry is like:

Weight loss. It takes so much dedication, and once you stop it all disappears.