Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota

Look: I am nothing. I do not even have ashes to rub into my eyes.

Poetry can keep life itself alive. You can endure almost anything as long as you can sing about it.

Practice good personal hygiene. Wash your hands before you eat. Be aware of good clean water and food sources.

In life, you gotta do something. And the medical journals keep on saying if you've got a goal or some passion in life, you'll outlive all the other guys who - the bank manager that retired. They gave him a rocking chair and he rocked himself to death. So you gotta have a passion, whatever it happens to be. Whether it's this or something else, it doesn't matter, as long as it's a reason to get out of bed every morning, as my accountant of 50 years keeps on saying.

It goes without saying that a fine short poem can have the resonance and depth of an entire novel.

Most of the pollution in the water already is dead animal and plant matter and building debris, ... good stagnant nursery for mosquitoes.