The Voice

STRAND

I don’t know why teachers are afraid of the experience of the poem . . .

SHAWN

Well, because it would be like passing out drugs in class, I imagine.

STRAND

Poetry is a high. It is a thrill. If people were taught to read poetry in the right way, they would find it extremely pleasurable.

SHAWN

It’s also an experience of close contact with another mind, another person.

STRAND

Well, certainly something I would want a reader to have as he experiences my poetry is—a form of intimacy.

SHAWN

Yes. But of course—how can I put this—as a reader, I wouldn’t want to have that intimacy with everybody.

STRAND

No. You have to like the voice. I mean, you have to like the music you hear.

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