Michael Gizzi

"I don't write anything that I cannot pronounce comfortably. In other words, I wouldn't write anything in a poem which I wouldn't say to you right now...So it has to be something, in other words, I never try to be someone I'm not in my poetry. If I can't say it why would I want to write it down? If it's not something I would say to you why would I want to write it down? So I don't say the word "diorama", I say "diarrhea." But I might put "diorama" in my poem because I can say it comfortably. There are certain instances of words I can't say comfortably but they're the right word so I say them over and over until I can pronounce them comfortably and then I'll include it, otherwise I wouldn't and I use a lot of contractions for that reason."