“Usually a life turned into a poem is misrepresented.”
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Poetry is, first and last, language - the rest is filler.
And at least in poetry you should feel free to lie. That is, not to lie, but to imagine what you want, to follow the direction of the poem.
Pain is filtered in a poem so that it becomes finally, in the end, pleasure.
I think the best American poetry is the poetry that utilizes the resources of poetry rather than exploits the defects or triumphs of the poet's personality.