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"I consider a poem to be a kind of experiment where a number of elements are brought together under test conditions to see how they will interact to create meaning or relevance."
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"You can only be fulfilled in life when you achieve your purpose."

"Find what is meaningful to you and stand by it. Even if you begin to wonder if there is any meaning to anything, continue to be yourself."

"The most meaningful endeavors are the ones that come without an end."

"But there are certain meanings that are lost forever the moment they are explained in words."
Explore more quotes by John Barton

"I became intrigued with colour theory. The absurd pronouncements of the Colour Institute, a group that decides what colours are hot each year or season, amused me."

"Writing can sometimes be exploitative. I like to take a few steps of remove in order to respect the privacy of the subject. If readers make the link, they have engaged with the poem."

"Poets can't resist the dramatic pull of their lives and so inevitably write autobiographical verse."

"I sometimes like to tinker with poems that have failed, ones that I have sent aside. Even years afterward, I will revisit them if there is something about them that I cannot give up on."

"The experiment of the poem is mostly intuitive. I write the first draft, pulling in the various elements that interest me, in the hope that their being combined will lead to some kind of insight."

"I would not say I chose to write long poems on a conscious level. The long poem has been a relative constant."

"Some readers allow their prejudices to blind them. A good reader knows how to disregard inappropriate responses."
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