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

Every day is a gift with a child, no matter what problems you have.

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

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.

Auden said poetry makes nothing happen. But I wonder if the opposite could be true. It could make something happen.

My prose is turgid, it just hasn't got any energy