I am an ordinary human being who is impelled to write poetry. ... I still do feel that a poet has a duty to words, and that words can do wonderful things, and it's too bad to just let them lie there without doing anything with and for them.

Art is a refining and evocative translation of the materials of the world.

Be careful what you swallow. Chew!

Writing is a delicious agony.

Don't let anyone call you a minority if you're black or Hispanic or belong to some other ethnic group. You're not less than anybody else.

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

Poetry is life distilled.