Words - as I speak or write them - make a path on which I walk.

Poetry saves what is human in this world going gaudy & insane. In exploring small truths, something larger might turn up, adding dimension, insight, vision, recognition to our lives. We just might be more complete, more aware after a poem.

The word is important in Native American tradition. You speak the path on which you walk. Your words make the trail.

Poetry examines an emotional truth. It's an experience filtered through the personality of the poet. We look to poetry for visions, not scientific truths. The poet's job is to combine new elements. Explore their melting, seeping into one another.

I try. I am trying. I was trying. I will try. I shall in the meantime try. I sometimes have tried. I shall still by that time be trying.

20th century poetry is a piñata. Images break from the earth when the poet strikes it.

Poetry is road maintenance for a fragmented world which seeks to be kept together. It's been an integral activity for a long time.