Poetry chooses people, as much people choose to be poets. That's Purdy's take. He never consciously decided to be a poet. He describes himself, in one of the footnotes to one of his publications, as an eternal amateur. Purdy and his wife, Urith, during the Second World War.
Poetry chooses people, as much people choose to be poets.
That's Purdy's take. He never consciously decided to be a poet. That's what it actually means. But I think it's also Al distancing himself from people who considered themselves career poets. I always just wrote.