“Olds writes “poetry more faithful to the felt truth of reality than any prose could be.” – Richard Wakefield.

I take what the world throws at me, and spin, twist, skim, fly, flip, throw it back - Selima Hill

How you became a poet's a mystery! / Where did you get your talent from? / I say: I had two uncles, Joe and Harry - / one was a stammerer, the other dumb.- 'Heredity', Tony Harrison

Where is the spirit that touched the hearts / Lightly - chameleon colours of home? - 'Visiting Zomba Plateau', Jack Mapanje

...in a good poem the poet disappears. That's what the struggle with language is all about. The point is that in the finished poem you don't lay yourself bare. You create a strongbox of words. - Vicki Feaver