Along The Cernovian Coast

“Today, Another Day” by Kathleen M. Dlugos; oil on paper

“……But a person in crisis, an individual in crisis, is someone who has been bowled over by some kind of crisis. And what poetry says to us is, you know what? Turn your confusion, turn your world into words. Take it outside yourself, into language. And poetry says, I’m going to meet you halfway. You just bring me your chaos. I’ll bring you all sorts of ordering principles. I’ll bring you story; if you want sonnets, I’ll bring you sonnets. What we’re going to do is, we’re going to let your crisis shine through this ordering principle.”

To read the complete ON BEING with Krista Tippett interview transcript, go to Shaping Grief with Language.

Further details on artist and educator Kathleen M. Dlugos can be found here.

Gregory Orr taught English at the University of Virginia from 1975 to 2019 and founded its Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. His books of prose include The Blessing, Poetry as Survival, and A Primer for Poets and Readers of Poetry. He is the author of over 10 books of poetry including How Beautiful The Beloved, and a forthcoming collection, The Last Love Poem I Will Ever Write.