I like rhyme because it is memorable, I like form because having to work to a pattern gives me original ideas.

A poem might be defined as thinking about feelings - about human feelings and frailties.

I don't like poetry that just slaps violent words on a canvas, as it were.

Peter Lucas and I live in Durham but spend a great of time in North Wales, where we have a cottage in the mountains, and in Vermont, USA, with my sister - who is a children's writer married to a poet.

Each word bears its weight, so you have to read my poems quite slowly.

When everything is for 'fun' nothing is for the good.

I think a poet, like a painter, should be a craftsperson.