I don't want people running around saying Gwen Brooks's work is intellectual. That makes people think instantly about obscurity. It shouldn't have to mean that, but it often seems to.

The music is in minors.

Abortions will not let you forget. You remember the children you got that you did not get.

When I start writing a poem, I don't think about models or about what anybody else in the world has done.

Words can do wonderful things. They pound, purr. They can urge, they can wheedle, whip, whine. They can sing, sass, singe. They can churn, check, channelize. They can be a "Hup two three four." They can forge a fiery army of a hundred languid men.

To be in love Is to touch things with a lighter hand. In yourself you stretch, you are well.

I don't like the idea of the black race being diluted out of existence. I like the idea of all of us being here.