Poetry is a way for me to explore a tingly feeling, to let it play itself out, and also to map it. I feel like I'm making little star maps when I write poems.

After the first few readings in comedy venues I did begin to write for laughs. There's something so gratifying about stimulating laughter.

The language itself is what gets me interested in writing. It's weird to me that words exist. Never a dull moment with words. They're a layer between our minds and the physical reality around us, obviously, but the layer seems like it's always in flux, like an asteroid belt, constantly moving.

Negative space is important. When I teach students to read critically I advise them to look for what the author isn't saying just as carefully as for what he or she is.

Writing essays and teaching composition have helped me immensely in writing poetry, because they've forced me to focus on the structure of ideas.

Surprise keeps the reader awake. The only alternative is to continue saying what the reader is expecting. What fun is that?

I don't really want to write fiction at all. I don't see why fiction is necessary when we have real life already confusing enough.