Jon Corelis

A poem which ultimately says, one way or another, "Where's mine?" will always be a bad poem. A good poem will always ultimately say, one way or another, "Here's yours."
Go to Quote / Comment | by Jon Corelis

It's a good idea for a poet to read a lot of poetry, preferably in more than one language, making no effort either to concentrate on or to avoid the poetry of any particular country or century, including your own: just read what you like. Then when you write a poem, assume your reader has read, understood, and liked all the same poetry that you have read, understood, and liked. That this isn’t true doesn’t matter.
Go to Quote / Comment | by Jon Corelis

Trying to make a poem successful by having it express important moral truths is cheating and, what’s worse, won’t work.
Go to Quote / Comment | by Jon Corelis

Forget about poetry readings. They've degenerated into nothing but group therapy sessions that don't cure anyone.
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I'm not interested in poems that try to make me understand the person who wrote them, I want poems that make me understand myself.
Go to Quote / Comment | by Jon Corelis

The worst mistake a poet can make is to try to be one of the acknowledged legislators of this world.
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Never begin a poem with the word "We." You might as well begin it, "Here is the sort of thing I learned to write in that creative writing class."
Go to Quote / Comment | by Jon Corelis

It is as absurd and futile to try to explain the meaning of a poem by constructing a prose paraphrase of it as it would be to use the same method to try to explain the meaning of a painting, dance, or musical performance.
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For the poet, to say "I" is not to take off a mask, but to put one on.
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I only read a poem if its first line gives me a tingle.
Go to Quote / Comment | by Jon Corelis