"In the past, poetry came in the form of spells and chants used to effect change." ― John Barton Topic(s): Poetry More From John Barton "Sometimes poetry is inspired by the conversation entered into by reading other poems." "No poem is easily grasped; so why should any reader expect fast results?" "My obsession with time informs my poetry so completely it is hard for me to summarize it. We want time to pass, for new things to happen to us, we want to hold on to certain moments, we don’t want our lives to end." More In Poetry "I did not have a very literary background. I came to poetry from the sciences and mathematics, and also through an interest in Japanese and Chinese poetry in translation."― Robert Morgan "God is the perfect poet."― Robert Browning "There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community."― M. Scott Peck