I am a result of what has happened on this planet - how could I find the art to say that? I can't, and yet, I am drawn to it because of the enormity of it. That seems really important.

I like the dance between sustained focus and digression that the long poem invites. A controlling metaphor helps to sustain the long poem.

When we're writing anything, we're bearing witness to the time we live in and how it's different from any other time in history.

If you have this deep feeling of empathy for the natural world, you feel it so profoundly. It's almost a religious experience. I feel that I could never really say the depth of feeling or connection I feel to the natural world, which has made me.

I'm really interested in culture because it is such a powerful human force, particularly in America where we think it's all about the individual.

Life seems complicated to me; I feel confused a lot of the time by life. I feel confused about the fact that we can be so tender as creatures to one another, and so monstrous at the same time.

I'm filled with despair. We live in a pathological culture filled with rage and bitterness and greed. The hate-mongering and racism is reaching a frightening pitch.