Phrase by 'Yusef Komunyakaa'

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Poetry helps me understand who I am. It helps me understand the world around me. But above all, what poetry has taught me is the fact that I need to embrace mystery in order to be completely human.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Me , World , I Am , Poetry


My great-grandfather Melvin had been a carpenter - so was my father - and they taught me the value of tools: saws, hammers, chisels, files and rulers. It all dealt with conciseness and precision. It eliminated guesswork. One has to know his tools, so he doesn't work against himself.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Me , Work , Value , Father


I originally wanted to embrace the imagery and forthrightness of rap music. There are some interesting, dynamic voices in rap. But I find most of it irresponsible in its overt violence and commercialization of anger. As artists, we believe we can will action through language. If that's the case, we have to take responsibility for what we say.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Music , Responsibility , Believe , Anger


I see many black males grasping for some thread of hope. There are so many destructive practices, glimpses into a psychic abyss. That must be very frightening.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  See , Black , Some , Hope


Students often have such a lofty idea of what a poem is, and I want them to realize that their own lives are where the poetry comes from. The most important things are to respect the language; to know the classical rules, even if only to break them; and to be prepared to edit, to revise, to shape.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Know , Poetry , Respect , Language


Vietnam helped me to look at the horror and terror in the hearts of people and realize how we can't aim guns and set booby traps for people we have never spoken a word to. That kind of impersonal violence mystifies me.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Me , Look , People , Violence


We have to embrace the good over the bad. That has to be one's personal project.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Bad , Good , Personal , Embrace


It wasn't a deliberate decision to become a poet. It was something I found myself doing - and loving. Language became an addiction.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Myself , Language , Decision , Addiction


Through the years I have seen myself as a peaceful person, but the awareness of the anger is part of that process.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Myself , Person , Anger , Peaceful


Poets are seen as the caretakers of language, so working with words no matter what the form is what we do.

Author: Yusef Komunyakaa - American Poet
  Words , Language , Seen , Matter


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