I look for poetry in English because it's the only language I read.

His blood is black and boiling hot, he gurgles ghastly groans. He'll cook you in his dinner pot, your skin, your flesh, your bones.

Children seem naturally drawn to poetry - it's some combination of the rhyme, rhythm, and the words themselves.

A poet is not something you become; a poet is something you are.

When I began writing, I didn't read any other children's poets... I didn't want to be influenced until I'd found my own voice. Now I read them all.

My wife used to tell me one of my best qualities was that my feet don't smell, but I remember my brother's did when we were kids.

The sound of a word is at least as important as the meaning.