grand steps

Like steps up to a palace door, you know by the first few lines you’ve entered the realm of a poem.

place each word

Word by well-placed word, build me a word palace.

through the palace wall

There is a hole in the palace wall.
A good poem is like that!

You never know what you might see.


—Tukaram (11th C., India)
Quoted in Robert McDowell’s Poetry As Spiritual Practice