Andrew Motion Trying Quotations

I shall try to write a poem that is about the moment but doesn't betray things that are true to me as a poet.

I wanted to reimagine the role, in a way that was respectful of its traditional responsibilities but made them part of a wider pattern of poetry about national incidents, events, preoccupations; and to spend a great deal of time going to schools trying to demystify poetry.

There are plenty of examples of people who have had busy lives out there in the world, trying to do good, and written very well at the same time.