Poet influences

MacAllister

'Twas but a dream of thee
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Y'all may have done a thread like this already.

I was just thinking about poetry that I think has influenced how I think about and read words, though.

Richard Hugo is a poet like that, for me. In particular, the poem "Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg."

Because poetry has to be so very tight and every single word pulls so much freight, the mind-set to consider someone else's poetry is very much the mindset I try to bring to writing.

But mostly, I really love this poem, and wanted to share it with you.
 

zarch

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influence

Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Countee Cullen...


I like to think of myself as a neo-Harlem Renaissance poet. And I'm a jazz musician (though my day job is English teacher), so music influences my poetry, too.
 
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I like to think personal experiences influence me more than other poets' work, but I'd have to say I love Wendy Cope and Roger Gough. They have a way of injecting black humour into verse in such a way that you read it and say, "Yeah yeah, I know exactly what you mean! You've gotta laugh..."

So hopefully when I write, people read it and think I am realistic but amusing at the same time.

You've gotta laugh, haven't you?
 
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And Pam Ayres. I bought a book of her poetry today. Gotta love Pam Ayres.