Turning fifty ... is like flying: hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.

She was mine and not-mine all at once. She was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and the most terrifying.

Women tend to be preservers of the social structure, of marriage. They don't want to upset their husbands or their significant others. They don't want to hurt people.

I thought to spend my declining years writing poetry and teaching - but that won't pay the Bergdorf's bill. I think I'll move to somewhere life is cheaper.

Images are ... a kind of emotional shorthand.

I started with poetry because it was direct, immediate, and short. It was the ecstasy of striking matches in the dark.

I don't think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am. I don't think you could ever know just how truly special you are that even on the darkest nights you are my brightest star