I spend a lot of time in the position of “reader” (and critic), so I’m fascinated by how much of poetry is constructed by strangers, even long after the poet’s death.
When politicians can get their style and life story and political beliefs to line up—Obama was another example of this; so was Calvin Coolidge—they can appeal to voters in so many ways.
I often fear that the chaotic household of imagery that populates many of my poems distracts from the violent subject matter. Beauty seems dangerous because you always run the risk of beautifying or glorifying atrocities.
