… poetry has never fully disengaged itself from its associations with shamanism; the poet,  like the shaman,  has mastered certain techniques – rhythmic, performative,  imagistic,  metaphoric – that summon the unconscious part of the mind, so that,  in this dreamlike state between waking and sleeping,  we  may discover more about our thoughts and feelings than we would otherwise be able to do.

Alfred Corn “The Poem’s Heartbeat”