do you believe this

Lucille Clifton believes if you "have poetry in your heart," you'll be better at your chosen vocation. Read it here (thanks to Poetry Hut for the link). Nice idea, if idealized. I don't think being a lover of poetry is going to make you better at anything beyond being a better poet or reader (maybe). You're going to fall as hard on your nose as everyone else. Not that poetry won't enrich your life - it rivals being loved! But loving poetry won't keep students from flunking classes. It didn't make Sylvia Plath a better mother, or Bukowski a better postman, and plenty of poetry-breathing professors don't seem to care about their jobs. But I do think Lucille Clifton kicks ass.