How to Grow a Poem

How to Grow a Poem

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How to Grow a Poem
How to Grow a Poem
A "stream of anxiety" poem from Phillip X Levine

A "stream of anxiety" poem from Phillip X Levine

Kenneth Salzmann's avatar
Kenneth Salzmann
Apr 22, 2023
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How to Grow a Poem
How to Grow a Poem
A "stream of anxiety" poem from Phillip X Levine
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Phillip X Levine began writing "Woman on a Subway" more than 25 years ago, while sitting on a log in Woodstock, New York. But he may not be finished yet. So far, he can count at least 17 versions of the poem--or "prose song," as he describes the form he's arrived at for perhaps ten poems in his varied and prodigious catalog. 

Levine is now widely recogni…

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