Charles Simic

“A true confession: I believe in a soluble fish.”

“One writes because one has been touched by the yearning for and the despair of ever touching the Other.”

“Poetry: three mismatched shoes at the entrance of a dark alley.”

“In their effort to divorce language and experience, deconstructionist critics remind me of middle-class parents who do not allow their children to play in the street.”

“Poetry is an orphan of silence.”

“I slept little, read a lot, and fell in love frequently.”

“Inside my empty bottle I was constructing a lighthouse while all the others were making ships.”