poets
04.02.2005 | 11:21 am

It's so crazy that I've been given so much recognition so young when often I don't feel like I've earned it or deserve it yet. My heart is in the right place, that much is true, and I know I will work at my craft for my whole life, but I am also awed and indebted to so many other poets and writers whose work inspires and stuns me, who often don't get the props they deserve or don't get read as much as they should, which is every night!

We feed each other. So here's a small list for now, of some people who've fed my soul: Liam deKosta-Kjaer, Ilya Kaminsky, Oliver de la Paz, Joseph Legaspi, Edward Garcia, Taiyo Takeda, Chinaka Hodge, Pat Rosal, Sarah Gambito, Eric Gamalinda, Elizabeth Alexander, Suheir Hammad, Emmanuel Ortiz, Kim Addonizio, Ko Un...I could go on for days...

anyway, lemme end on some words by Eric Gamalinda...

"You have chosen to believe in something
and now it is your burden not to deny it."

"be beautiful, brief, and blinding."

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