I like to think that I'm a sort of poet for our times.

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

For me, poetry is the music of being human. And also a time machine by which we can travel to who we are and to who we will become.

Like the sand and the oyster, it's a creative irritant. In each poem, I'm trying to reveal a truth, so it can't have a fictional beginning.

When you have a child, your previous life seems like someone else's. It's like living in a house and suddenly finding a room you didn't know was there, full of treasure and light.

I always wanted a child. Being a mother is the central thing in my life.

If we think of what's up ahead, with climate change and wars over water, it's very frightening.