Wisława Szymborska:
Whatever inspiration in, it’s born from a continuous ‘I don't know’.....Poets, if they're genuine, must...keep repeating ‘I don't know’. Each poem marks an effort to answer this statement; but as soon as the final period hits the page, the poet begins to hesitate, starts to realize that this particular answer was pure makeshift, absolutely inadequate.
Lucille Clifton:
Donald Justice:
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Edmond Jabès (trans. from French by Rosmarie Waldrop):
Albert Goldbarth:
Pamela Alexander:
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