are symbiotic — the relationship is close, protracted and not necessarily of benefit one to the other. They are different organisms, different species. There are certainly periods when they fill each other up, and there are just as certainly periods when they drain each other's cup. It is not my choice to forgo one for the other. I was asked by a poet, who had reluctantly chosen not to have children, what conditions I would require to become the best poet I could. And I had to allow, I had them, though I struggle for the opportunities to enter that clearing where I am alone and afraid and humbled and preganant only with the anticipation of working without interruption. I had to allow that I require the distraction, that I require the attachment, and that unencumbered I merely dissipate; I come undone. I had to admit, I require the struggle though it brings me to my knees when I most long to be free.
An American Poetry Vigil
Read Selected Poems
Excerpt from "By Jude McCramack Goddamnit to Hell's Dog Foot,"