And what about salt?
—Richard Jones

Salt! Who comprehends her?  —Beethoven

Salt is the daughter of freedom.  —Schiller

The chief and most precious quality of salt—
its sincerity.  —Tolstoy

Nothing can please many,
and please long, except salt.  —Johnson

Salt does not reproduce the visible; 
rather, salt reveals what is true.  —Klee

Extreme complication is contrary to salt.  —Debussy

Salt washes from the soul 
the dust of everyday life.  —Picasso

Salt is the achievement of stillness 
in the midst of chaos.  —Bellow

Yes, salt is not a small thing. Salt is a way of life.  —Jones

Richard Jones

is an American poet, editor, and author whose newest book, Stranger on Earth, is forthcoming from Copper Canyon in spring/summer 2018. He has seven books of poetry in print, most recently The Correct Spelling & Exact Meaning (Copper Canyon Press, 2010), as well as seven limited-edition volumes, including King of Hearts (Adastra Press, 2016). His first collection, Country of Air (Copper Canyon Press), won the Posner Award for Poetry in 1986. The Blessing: New and Selected Poems (Copper Canyon Press) received the Midland Authors Award for Poetry for 2000. His work can also be found in the anthologies Poetry 180 (edited by Billy Collins, 2003), Good Poems (edited by Garrison Keillor, 2003), and Bearing the Mystery (edited by Gregory Wolfe).

Editor of the literary journal Poetry East and its many anthologies—such as Paris, Origins, Bliss, and Who Are the Rich and Where Do They Live?—Jones also edits the free worldwide poetry app The Poet’s Almanac, available at the App Store. More information about Poetry East can be found at poetryeast.org.

Jones is a professor of English at DePaul University in Chicago, where he has taught since 1987. Learn more about the poet and his work at: www.RichardJonesPoetry.com.

More on the Web: By, About, and Beyond

⚡ Letter of Recommendation From My Father to My Future Wife in Cultural Weekly (21 February 2013)

⚡ Also in Cultural Weekly, a dozen works by Jones