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.

Bringing science into poetry is one way of acknowledging some of the richest stuff that is in my cultural moment.

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.

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.

The environment is becoming so much a central concern, I see environmental concerns just bleeding into poetries all over the place. My hope is that we won't have these environmental poets tucked over here and everybody else doing cool stuff with language and consciousness elsewhere, but that all of it will become one thing.

What keeps me level is the refusal to let the best of human aspirations die in the face of the challenges. I make a moral decision to be hopeful.

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