News at Eleven: "I tend to see narrative (again,

I don't merely mean 'story' but drama or time-passing) as one of the structural bases of a poem, and its lyric qualities as the richness or intensity embedded with that structure. In fact, part of the story of a poem IS its musicality or lyrical articulation. The song is the story, just as the story enables one to sing." [--David Baker]

Just as the lyric and narrative aspects of a poem are related, the setting of a poetic work, and the importance of a place to the poet's life, becomes a part of the narrative and the lyric. Much of Mr. Baker's work refers to the Midwestern landscape, specifically that or rural Ohio.

from Bookslut: An Interview with David Baker

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