I think what gets a poem going is an initiating line. Sometimes a first line will occur, and … - Billy Collins

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A filmmaker has almost the same freedom as a novelist has when he buys himself some paper.

Billy Collins

I think what gets a poem going is an initiating line. Sometimes a first line will occur, and it goes nowhere; but other times - and this, I think, is a sense you develop - I can tell that the line wants to continue. If it does, I can feel a sense of momentum - the poem finds a reason for continuing.

Doe, Finds, Momentum, Occur, Tell, Thinking

Same Author Quotes

One of the ridiculous aspects of being a poet is the huge gulf between how seriously we take ourselves and how generally we are ignored by everybody else.

Differences, Everybody, Gulf, Poetry, Self, Take

But tomorrow, dawn will come the way I picture her, barefoot and disheveled, standing outside my window in one of the fragile cotton dresses of the poor. She will look in at me with her thin arms extended, offering a handful of birdsong and a small cup of light.

Bird, Come, Light, Look, Offering, Way

A motto I've adopted is, if at first you don't succeed, hide all evidence that you ever tried.

Adopted, Firsts, Hide, Motto, Succeed

Poetry is like standing on the edge of a lake on a moonlit night and the light of the moon is always pointing straight at you.

Edge, Lake, Lakes, Moon, Night, Poetry

But my heart is always propped up in a field on its tripod, ready for the next arrow.

Arrows, Fields, Heart, Propped, Ready, Tripod