On NPR this morning there was a wonderful interview with the poet Stephen Dunn. Here’s what he said about basketball and poetry:

…I was not a particularly good student, and I was a pretty good basketball player. I’ve written an essay called “Basketball And Poetry,” in which I try not to push the metaphor too far. But one of the points that I make in the essay is the similarity between poetry and basketball is the chance to be better than yourself, to transcend yourself, if you’re hot that day. And that happens in writing in our best moments, where we find ourselves saying what we didn’t know we knew or couldn’t have said in any other circumstance. Those are the moments in poetry I live for now.

In any kind of writing – fiction, non-fiction or poetry – in our best moments we find ourselves saying what we didn’t know we knew – This is so true. This is why we write.

Here’s the link to the interview:

http://www.npr.org/2014/12/07/369108523/staff-favorite-an-interview-with-poet-stephen-dunn