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'Question 1: Can poetry be a roadmap? It depends. Robert Frost talks about how the road less travelled ‘has made all the difference.’ Politicians call this a dangerous detour, even a dead end, because their private attitude is ‘my way or the highway’, choices that can prove not just unpoetic, but stupid. Dante Alighieri wrote a roadmap explaining existence’s dangers and delights. Consider how poetry, all exterior sounds and figures, is regurgitation of your interior journeys. Messy, no colour-coded Googlemap. Sometimes poetry’s just a walk around the block: searching memories, a surprise flower, the guard dog that barks every time.' (Introduction)
'Sins have often been divided into those of thought, word and deed, with deed regarded as the worst. Today we pay more attention to sinful words, realising the harm that they can do. Bad words can bring social exclusion. Yet complex questions surrounding the use of words remain.' (Introduction)