Ann Sarah Iverson: it takes opening up to let something in.

I read poems because I cannot stop myself. I write poems because if I stopped myself, I would not be myself. It is all a matter of self, who and what you were appointed to do. Tampering with this ordained arrangement is dangerous. Long ago, I made a bargain with the words of my life: if I made them poems, they promised me meaning. I take in art as though I stood at a shore to swallow the sea and this makes sense to me because the act of making art takes the body’s participation; it takes opening up to let something in. Sometimes my art and poetry become integrative forces out of my control. Other times they work very independently, very stubbornly.  Most of the time, I feel like I should just get out of the way for both. But really I make poems and art because I am happiest with a pencil in my hand or with paint or glue under my fingernails. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to exist in both worlds.

Ann Sarah Iverson