When you make the right decision, it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks.

In a funny way, poems are suited to modern life. They're short, they're intense. Nobody has time to read a 700-page book. People read magazines, and a poem takes less time than an article.

There's so much to think about when you're becoming an adult, and there's so many great poems about that apprehension and excitement.

Now is the time to move this country forward.

Most of the books that I've written have been focused on, sort of, the individual, and sort of, either a voice, a personal voice, or a kind of transforming event where they step forward to fight for something they value.

People don't always realize that my parents shared a sense of intellectual curiosity and a love of reading and of history.

Sometimes it takes a while to recognize that someone has a special ability to get us to believe in ourselves, to tie that belief to our highest ideals and imagine that together we can do great things. In those rare moments, when such a person comes along, we need to put aside our plans and reach for what we know is possible.