Author compares prose vs poetry

In an interview with Huffington Post , John Amen the author of five collections of poetry: Christening the Dancer, More of Me Disappears, At the Threshold of Alchemy, The New Arcana (with Daniel Y. Harris), and, most recently, strange theater (New York Quarterly Books), engages in the controversial Prose is better than poetry argument.

Amen said: I think that both poetry and prose can be infused with energy, evocative images, and distinct emotions, and can direct and transport a reader in numerous ways. Prose is often regarded as a vehicle for narrative, poetry as being somewhat less anchored to the linear, but it seems to me that each can inform the other.

He added that "When placed within a poetic context, an activity such as rolling the trashcan to the street can be elevated or re-contextualized; a seemingly mundane detail of my life can be transformed into something transpersonal and possibly mythic. This process is no less than redemptive. I think many writers share this experience, which is why you often hear people say, "I don't choose to write, I have to write."