Lawrence Raab:
Visible Signs

"The only way to make art," Miles Davis
said, "is to forget what is unimportant."
That sounds right, although the opposite
also feels like the truth. Forget
what looks important, hope it shows up

later to surprise you. I understand
he meant you've got to clear
your mind, get rid of everything
that doesn't matter.But how can you tell?...

...The poem
that knows too quickly what's important

will disappoint us.

from "Miles Davis on Art"

Also by Lawrence Raab:

The Probable World (2000)

Winter at the Caspian Sea (1999)

What We Don't Know About Each Other (1993)
(National Book Award Nominee)

Other Children (1986)

The Collector of Cold Weather (1976)

Mysteries of the Horizon (1972)