News at Eleven: A poet has the responsibility

to point out the ills of society, to call attention to what is happening and awaken the people's consciousness for genuine social change, he said.

He [Bienvenido Lumbera] debunked claims that the words used by a poet were solely the poet's own. "It is important to point out that the words used by the poet are already used by other people in the community and have acquired meanings that embedded itself into the poem," he said.

from Philippine Daily Inquirer: Poetry, politics and political killings

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