American Journal Quotes

“This is why I love poems: they invite me to sit down and listen to a voice speaking thoughtfully and passionately about what it feels like to be alive.”
― Tracy K. Smith, American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time

“This is why I love poems: they require me to sit still, listen deeply, and imagine putting myself in someone else's unfamiliar shoes. The world I return to when the poem is over seems fuller and more comprehensible as a result.”
― Tracy K. Smith, American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time

“These and other tools help poems call our attention to moments when the ordinary nature of experience changes--when the things we think we know flare into brighter colors, starker contrasts, strange and intoxicating possibilities.”
― Tracy K. Smith, American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time

“This is why I love poems: they require me to sit still, listen deeply, and imagine putting myself in someone else’s unfamiliar shoes. The world I return to when the poem is over seems fuller and more comprehensible as a result.”
― Tracy K. Smith, American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time