From Poetry to Pottery: When Making Becomes Magic

Flipping a tire is pure poiesis—or not—depending on what’s going on in my mind.

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What does poetry have to do with production? Everything. In Greek, the word “poiesis” from which we get “poetry” means “making.” In my mind’s eye, I can picture an ancient Greek working in his backyard and saying, “ποιέω (poiéō), I make.”

But why would the ancient Greeks use the same word for making pottery and for making poetry? I guess beca…