Nine Gates

Entering the Mind of Poetry
Where the voice of the natural and the voice of the poet meet

Jane Hirshfield has written nine essays geared toward the creative writing student, which I'm not. I bought the book because I loved the beautiful cover and the translations of classical Japanese verse, particularly those of Komachi, Shikibu and Ryokan, and the influence of Zen Buddhism

I was drawn to the poems and the poets rather than to the "talking about poetry".

She describes herself to the late poet, Richard Hugo, whom she did not know: "I don't write much about America, or even people. I'd often enough rather talk to horses."