The very good thing about MFA programs is their democratizing. They bring a lot of different people to the table.

The idea of a poem as a message in a bottle means that it's sent out towards some future reader and the reader who opens that bottle becomes the addressee of the literary text.

Now, that can be a traditional form or it can be something you're inventing. It can be the development of a metaphor, the working through of a metaphor.

I was surprised recently to find a book called "Poetry in Persons" that's coming out about visit to poets to a class that Pearl London gave.

So, the process of revision, it's not systematic. But for me, I mean, I know a lot of poets who write out a draft and then revise it and I think they're happier people. But, I'm just not able to do it that way. I need to just continually examine it as I do it.

I would keep in mind to a young poet that you are entering into something that is very important, that has always been important in terms of human concerns.

I think that as long as you have other poets before you and that you can learn from them, then it's always open ended for you.