All journeys are wise - when viewed with enough time and distance.
Looking back on life's passages, the wrong turns and chance meetings, even dead-end streets can assume a place in a clear and purposeful progression. And for an artist, the sum of those daily choices, both mundane and monumental, leave an indelible mark on the character of the individual and the content of the creation. Entering the middle passage of her life, poet Carolyn Forche has received more acclaim and notoriety, witnessed more instances of cold brutality and generosity of spirit than one might expect in several lifetimes. I met with the poet at her Maryland home. And the lasting impression I came away with concerns the tangled, dangerous, and utterly guileless path she has traveled in her life.