poet as artist

Cruising through the weekend, I came upon this quote by Salman Rushdie:

“A poet’s work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep.”

The quote resonates with me because I think poetry some times has the reputation of being flowery and love struck or inaccessibly obtuse.

For me, a poet is an artist, and as an artist has a responsibility to do what artists have always done which is to respond to, reflect upon, and hopefully, influence the world.

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