Saturday, April 16, 2005

From the Walls of Open Books

From the walls of Open Books: A Poem Emporium, Seattle; one of only two poetry-only book stores in the country, now celebrating their Tenth Anniversary (Yay John & Christine!):


For me, everything in poetry should be out of place. Anna Akhmatova

If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can ever warm me, I know that is poetry. Emily Dickinson

One reads poetry with one's nerves. Wallace Stevens

A poem is untoward. Heather McHugh

Successions of words are so agreeable. Gertrude Stein

Art is about experience (in the same sense that a cat indoors is "about" the house). Allen Grossman

The HEAD, by way of the EAR, to the SYLLABLE / The HEART, by way of the BREATH, to the LINE. Charles Olson

Unscrew the locks from the doors / Unscrew the doors themselves from their jams! Walt Whitman

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A poetry-only bookstore??? Wow. That's pretty awesome. I hadn't read some of those quotes--the Grossman or McHugh. Thanx for them. I love poetic aphorisms. Hope your day is joyful.

Peter said...

Woody: let me know what you find out. If it's mis-attributed especially . . . and I'll pass it on to John & Christine, as these lines are stencilled on the walls of the bookstore, in the area where the poetry readings happen.