Computers Are a Fad. Poetry Has Been Around for Centuries.

That’s why I’m keeping my options open. Plus, writing poetry pays so much better than writing software.

My mother, a public school teacher, was explaining last night that her school can’t afford to give her more than one small stack of post-its per year. After all, they can run up to ninety cents per pack.

It never ceases to amaze me how profoundly our culture undervalues the things we need to remain human–like good teachers and good poems. Yet we have always needed them, and always will. So people do it anyway, through almost comic undervaluing.

I guess those moments when a child learns something or a person takes in a poem make it worthwhile. I guess those moments must have been happening continuously for centuries, to carry us through adversity and give hope. If so, the best thing we can do is to keep noticing.