Solo palabras

 WASHINGTON SQUARE: Is poetry ever safe—are we ever safe with or in it? I feel that poetry is one of the few things that has helped me keep my sanity, but often it does just the opposite.

RUEFLE: Now that is an interesting question. And as you say, there is no one answer, no certainty. When I was very young, poetry was a safe haven for me in an otherwise unruly and often hostile world (I’m thinking of junior high and high school). I’ve met many people who say that poetry literally saved their lives. And I believe it, if by changing a life one can save it, which is very often true. On the other hand, if poetry incites you in such a way that you do something stupid, like jump off a bridge when you are a teenager, or run away from home and join a cult... well, in those cases it may not be so safe. But for those of us who love it deeply, it can be like a mother’s arms. The fact is, reading poetry, like listening to music, can raise your heartbeat or it can lower it, and at different times in our life we need different rhythms to live by. And all the different rhythms—they are out there.

https://www.washingtonsquarereview.com/an-interview-with-mary-ruefle