something i posted somewhere else -- on meaning

[ellajam]

I like to think of reading poetry as a conversation between myself and the poet over a drink, or cake, or some such... the conversation may be about one specific subject, but there are fleeting tangents, non-verbal signals and significant pauses that can lead the mind in many other directions while still keeping the main thread intact.  And when you both walk away from the conversation, you'll remember it differently, because it will have affected you in different ways.  (Of course, in my imaginary conversations, the poet is always paying the bill so it's a much more pleasurable experience for me.)

I can really see that. I'm always imagining what led the poet to write that line, use that word, their imagined avenues of thought are not mine. Somehow I rarely feel we're coming from the same place but I love the differences between where they may be and where I am, all in my mind, of course. But I think my real favorites are those rare times when I feel like we are in the same place.