The Poetry Unbound newsletter from Pádraig Ó Tuama reminds us that there’s more than the “yeah, but” or the “and yet” or the “however” in poetry, in conflict, in relationships, in life. There’s the “also.”
Pádraig Ó Tuama writes (excerpt):
The “also” is something I love about poetry. It’s not interested in a singular diagnostic or analysis. It’s interested in the plural pathways that language can open up, to hold multiple things together. Probably that’s why I’m interested in conflict resolution, too: conflict asks us to pay attention to complexities. But it’s not only true for conflict, it’s also true for delight: what’s true about a friendship? What’s another thing that’s true about that friendship?