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Thank you
Painted Diary,
Thank you for your comments on the essay. My goal in writing this essay reminds me of what a teacher once told me, "My goal is not to get my students to think like me but just to think." If I accomplish this alone, then I will be satisfied. Poetry is the most subjective art, and you are totally right when you speak about audience and its many possible positions of interpretation. In fact, many of the things that I wrote in this essay, I'm not even sure I believe anymore. How our ideas shift from day to day! For example, now I believe that the goal of my poetry is not so much to express myself as it is to "create an effect for my readers." Perhaps this too will change, as i see things differently in the future. We are continually in flux, our bodies and minds. It is important to acknowledge this and even more, to celebrate it. As Whitman says in Song of Myself.
"You say I contradict myself. Very well, then, I contradict myself. I am large; I contain multitudes."
Your friend,
Chris
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