Why does it matter that poets are showcased? Because poetry rinses off language so that we don’t sound like endless newscasts. Poetry slows down the world. That’s a wonderful thing: removing wires from our brains long enough for us to see what’s written imagistically. Poetry makes us less lonely because poets say what others just think — and that place of vulnerability is where we recognize one another.

There are few poetry reviewers who are poets because, well, it’s more fun to write poems. But we believe that reviews are an artform because they quote the greatest artists in print.

If you feel the same, please help “Exemplars” continue having a home. The nonprofit Washington Independent Review of Books is one of few publications that features poetry, but it won’t survive without your support. Please click here to donate now.

And thank you for being the most important person in the world to a poet — a READER!

~ Grace Cavalieri

comments powered by Disqus