poetry is the invader

The best poems come through us, speak in our voices, and yet come from somewhere else entirely. We have to be other than ourselves at the moment of writing.

Only then does the poet’s imagination, recognizing the meaningless of most daily life, come to our rescue by offering its solution: a poem. An approximation of our experience in language but one that is more orderly, more meaningful and more humane.

Poetry is the invader that takes over those dormant areas of our minds when we are courageous enough to abandon our hold on them.

- Chris Banks, in interview with Alex Boyd about his new Anstruther Press chapbook Invaders, over on Alex's blog. You can read the whole thing here.

I've had a sneak peek at a bunch of the poems in the chapbook, and it's really something. There aren't many copies available, so grab one while you can!