News at Eleven: It's not to say that people who don't write

poetry don't survive, or survive well, but without the outlet of poetry I might have fossilized in my grief, or developed a chronic habit of sorrow or even bitterness, and certainly a debilitating regret and guilt. Poetry that is not merely release – crying is also that – is an adventure of the soul in its journey towards itself. It demands an utter honesty of experience and expression without which writing remains only cathartic and does not touch the depth at which it becomes art. [--Kamla Kapur]

from My Himachal: Poetry of Immense Grief: An Interview with Kamla Kapur

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