Arnold Adoff is a popular poet who has received many awards for his published works, which include the books Slow Dance Heartbreak Blues, The Basketball Counts, and Love Letters. Adoff lives in Ohio with his wife, Virginia Hamilton.

Adoff grew up listening to stories and poems at home. Poems were to him much like the stories or like little songs. After a fourth-grade teacher showed Adoff the beauty in poetry, he discovered that he wanted to write it himself. He developed a desire to "make something living on the page."

Adoff likes the idea of getting an entire "story" on a single page. He describes two main elements in his poetry—music and meaning. "I like to think of poetry as a mix of saying, or creating meaning, and singing, or creating beautiful sounds," he says. Adoff writes for young people because it is his goal to create an impact on a young person's soul and to make the world a better place. He writes about many subjects. As far as developing ideas to write about, Adoff says you don't have to look far or think of something unusual. "Ideas are as close as your hand in front of your face," he says. He likes to write about sports because sports have always been an important part of his life and his kids' lives.

Carl Lindner, professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside, has published two books of poems, Shooting Baskets in a Dark Gymnasium and Angling into Light. Below, Lindner answers a few questions about poetry, sports, and teaching.

What prompted you to write "First Love"?

Basketball was my first great passion. Throughout my teens, I didn't just love to play, I played to live. This poem is about the speaker warming up on the courts, shooting by himself, loosening up as he works on various shots, and then feeling that special connection that comes when shooter, ball, and rim are one. That feeling—a combination of unity, sureness, relatedness, clarity, and peace—closely resembles experiencing the bliss of love. It's mystical when you are in this special place or "zone." It's when you know the ball is going in as soon as it leaves your hands, and even before it leaves.

Can you share some thoughts on reading poetry?

Poetry has to be heard before it is seen. I tell my students to "hear" their poems, that poetry enters through the ear and makes its way to the heart; the work of the eye and brain is secondary.