Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh (via Wikimedia Commons)
"I exaggerate, I sometimes make changes to the subject, but still I don't invent the whole of the painting; on the contrary, I find it readymade—but to be untangled—in the real world." - Vincent van Gogh
I read this quote recently in an
article in Smithsonian Magazine and it struck me that I feel the same way about poetry. Often I feel as though the poem lies, ready-made, just beyond my perception. When I place words to paper I am - by necessity - limiting the ineffable and forcing it into the three-dimensional constraints of human experience.
