Great Regulars: And what should poets do while

just sitting here? Think their own thoughts. Invent their own narratives. Imagine their own poems coming into life. Poets know that to thrive in the art it's necessary to be in the zone of the imagination, be in the moment of creation, be in the moment of what one imagines the world to yearn for. And then: to create that world. Wallace Stevens calls this the "supreme fiction."

That's what poets do. And, as Richard Wilbur illustrates in his poem, "The Writer," the freedom to think and dream and imagine and build can only be earned in the act of earning it.

The Writer

from David Biespiel: The Oregonian: Advice for students and artists: 'Don't just do something, sit here'

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