Poetry Must Be Part Of Life Poem by Dennis Ryan

Monday morning, May 16,2005,9: 32 am

"the negative moment is often the most genuine"
- Simone de Beauvoir,THE ETHICS OF AMBIGUITY

- for Chris Davis

Poetry must be part of life, part of a life to be anything at all;
if it grows and develops, then it grows and develops;
if it asks vital questions, then it asks vital questions;
if it experiences pain and sadness, then it experiences pain and sadness—
just as long as it's real.What good is some pale imitation?
If I were to see a photograph of you in an exhibition
with a tear running down your cheek, am I supposed to say
"This is beautiful" when you are sad?Isn't this you
in the photograph?And isn't this knowing the difference
between life and art, and what art obscures?Poetry must be
part of life, part of a life not to be nothing, to be anything at all.