I always say that I'll have a go and see whether the poem works and if it does, then fine.

I see the shape of the poem before I start writing, and the writing is just the process of arriving at the shape.

I always say that I'll have a go and see whether the poem works and if it does, then fine.

I grew up in a bookless house - my parents didn't read poetry, so if I hadn't had the chance to experience it at school I'd never have experienced it. But I loved English, and I was very lucky in that I had inspirational English teachers, Miss Scriven and Mr. Walker, and they liked us to learn poems by heart, which I found I loved doing.

Time hates love, wants love poor,/but love spins gold, gold, gold from straw.

She stood upon a continent of ice, which sparkled between sea and sky, endless and dazzling, as though the world kept all its treasure there; a scale which balanced poetry and prayer.

What will you do now with the gift of your left life?