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Apr 8, 2023

"Poetry is a place where both grief and grace can live, where rage can be explored and examined, not simply exploited." --Ada Limon

Instructions on Not Giving Up

"I think, as poets, we are in the odd position of constantly defending our art form. Which is funny and also sort of invigorating, too. No one really says, "Oh you're a lawyer? I've never understood the law. In fact, I kind of hate it." Or, "Oh you wait tables? I didn't know that was something people did." I say it can be invigorating because, on some level, we have to evaluate what we do and why we do it almost daily. We have to explain ourselves to people all the time. We have to say, 'Yes, I am a unicorn, believe in me.'"Ada Limon is the 24th Poet Laureate of the United States and the author of six books of poetry. This brief and potent poem from her book, "The Carrying," speaks to the startling and instructive resilience of Spring.