not true

Too much of formal poetry is not true to the individual or to the world— it’s only true to its form.

true surreal

The true surreal that is not meant to shock but to astonish.

hold firm

I’d rather write a poem that remains important to me, than make a change that feels inauthentic.

ideal poem

I write or try to write as if convinced that, prior to my attempt, there existed a true text, a sort of Platonic script, which I had been elected to transcribe or record.

—Donald Justice, "Notes of an Outsider," Platonic Scripts (U. of Michigan Press, 1984)

easy writer

Writers don’t fear their facility even though it’s that talent which most threatens their true work.

true poets

I was talking about the troubadour poets. She must have misheard me, because she said, “I too find many poets ‘true but dour'."

these words

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Revelation 21:5, King James Version

nothing to be said

When a true poem is spoken silence is often the only response.

all true translations

I read three translations of the poem, and all in their own way were perfectly true.

substitution of terms

Mathematics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.

—Bertrand Russell (1872-1969), Mysticism and Logic

Poetics may be defined as the subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true.