Samuel Claiborne
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Poetry
My approach to poetry is a mite old-fashioned. Though, I rarely write rhymed verse, I do believe in the primacy of language over posturing or performance. And I also believe, deeply, in polishing one's work. Most of my poems, like my music, start with an outpouring of what is (hopefully) inspired raw material. But then I work and re-work that raw material, sometimes to the point that the entire meaning of the poem is altered. Almost all of my poems are the result of many drafts. 

I am not a slam poet. I rarely gesticulate while reading. I try to fall into the poem, it's language, rhythm, meaning, the emotions it engenders within me, when I read. I am a quiet, non-dramatic reader, and I like it that way - because it's the poem that matters to me, not the show. 

After what seemed like a long time lost in a wasteland, my style of poetry -- inspired by people like W.B. Yeats, Adrienne Rich, W.S.  Merwin, Ann Sexton and Pablo Neruda -- seems to be making a comeback. Lately my readings have been met with much enthusiasm, and although that is not the reason I write these poems, it is still something that I very much appreciate. It is always lovely to be seen for who you truly are, and affirmed.

Love Poems
Entrainment
Handholding on Venus (Entrainment II)
Untitled
Two Suns
Waking Inside You
Elise II
My Hands (Amy)
My Hands (Bi)
More Than Spring

Nature Poems
Can the Cactus know the Salamander
Sam's Point (Lichen)
Rattlers
Reincarnation I (Turkey Vulture)

The Armature

Other Poems
The Annunciation
DAB I
Guilt by Association
Mauro IIII - The Shallows